n he was appointed as Regent to his father who was becoming increasingly mentally ill. In December of 1923, after being appointed as regent he narrowly escaped an attempt on his life when a very disgruntled member of the Choshu clan tried to kill him.
             On December 18, 1926 Emperor Taisho died. A week later Hirohito assumed the chrysanthemum throne, and on November10, 1928 his formal enthronement took place. He then took the "Reign Name" Showa meaning Enlightened Peace and was formally know as Showa Tenno. (Encyclopedia of World Biography, NA) Hirohito was considered a God due to the fact that his lineage went back almost three thousand years in an unbroken line. He was treated like a God having doctors wear silk gloves and tailors never touching him.
             In July of 1937, hostilities between China and Japan began to erupt. Hirohito's advisors advised him to not get too involved in the decisions about the war so, he followed their advice and gave consent to his government to implement whatever policies they thought fit. There is evidence to show that Hirohito felt uneasy about the developments of World War Two, and did not favor an alliance with NAZI Germany or Fascist Italy. Finally on September 6, 1941 the final decision to go to war with the United States was made. Hirohito had many concerns about defeat one of which he referred to with a comment to his Chief of Staff Sugiyama Hajime when he made the statement that the initial operations in the Philippines and Malaya would only take three months Hirohito said:
             "When you were War Minister you said the &apos
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