Before World War II, Japanese emperors were officially considered divine figures under state beliefs. Hirohito was seen as a descendant of the sun goddess in traditional Japanese culture. However, in 1946, he publicly rejected this idea in what is known as the Humanity Declaration. This was part of major reforms during the U.S. occupation of Japan. After that, he was no longer officially treated as a god but as a human symbol of the nation. This change helped reshape Japan into a modern constitutional monarchy. It also changed how people viewed the emperor’s role in society.
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