Hirohito, Emperor Showa

Hirohito, known postumously as Emperor Showa (1901-1989) was the 124th Emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, beginning his reign in 1926. Under his reign, Japan become a member of the Axis, and fought the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. After the unconditional surrender of Japan in 1945, the Emperor cooperated with the reorganization of the Japanese state during the Allied occupation of Japan, and lived to see Japan become a highly urbanized democracy and one of the industrial and technological powerhouses of the world.

Hirohito in Days of Infamy
Hirohito gave his blessing to the the invasion of Hawaii as the opening stages of its war with the United States.

Hirohito in "Joe Steele"
Hirohito was killed when his train was struck by an incendiary bomb during the United States' invasion of Japan late in 1945.

Hirohito in Worldwar
When the Race's Conquest Fleet invaded Earth 1942, Hirohito led Japan into a co-belligerency with his Axis allies as well as former enemies including the United States and China. Hirohito was firm about his country's intent to fight the Race from the outset, and the country remained independent, although not without a price. The capital city, Tokyo, was destroyed by the Race when they learned of Japan's atomic bomb program. Furthermore, at the Peace of Cairo, Japan lost almost all its mainland holdings in Asia.

After the war, Hirohito formed much closer economic ties with the United States.

Hirohito in Southern Victory
Hirohito inherited a Japan that had proven itself as a military force. Japan defeated Spain in the early 20th century, taking the Philippines, Korea, and Formosa and shoring up its holdings in East Asia. During the Great War, Japan had taken colonies from Germany and forcibly purchased former French Indochina and the Dutch East Indies from France and Holland respectively after the Entente's defeat. Under Hirohito's reign, Japan fought the inconclusive Pacific War. Japan also launched an attack on the United States during the Second Great War, which again proved inconclusive for both sides. Japan, unable to force the USA from the Sandwich Islands, abandoned Midway and Wake Island and turned its attention to the Asian holdings of its former ally, Britain.

Note: Hirohito's role in Southern Victory'' is speculative, as Hirohito is not specifically named. However, nothing in the known history of the timeline counters this assumption.''