Q: Some people feel that MacArthur should have asked the Emperor to
abdicate and still save the imperial system, and people within the Imperial
household had suggested this. And some people wonder why MacArthur didn't ask
him to abdicate. Do you think it would have been better if he had abdicated?
NAKASONE: MacArthur's occupation plan would have resulted in a total disaster
if he had suggested or requested the Emperor's abdication. I think that Japan
would have become an absolute chaos and MacArthur's occupation plan could not
have been conducted smoothly.
In the Potsdam Declaration, it says...the Japanese form of government....
governmental structure must be chosen by the Japanese themselves... MacArthur
removing the Emperor would have been against that rule as well.
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