I’ve come across information on a website that is far from authoritative, so am wondering whether it’s true or not. The information seems startling, yet I’ve never seen it mentioned elsewhere. The website in question is full of errors and politically repugnant, so I’m not inclined to trust it. Perhaps readers could help out here…
According to the website, an official delegation was sent to Ise in 1941 to ask whether the country should go to war with the US. The answer given by the priests, on the presumption that it derived from Amaterasu, was in the affirmative. As a result on Dec. 7, 1941 – ‘a date which will live in infamy’ – Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.
Similarly in 1945, with Japan facing defeat, another delegation was sent to Ise following the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The question posed this time was whether the nation should die fighting to the last man, or whether the country should surrender so as to be able to fight again in future. The answer this time was that the nation should surrender, because the kami loved the people.
I can’t find any other reference to this on the internet. Does anyone know whether there’s any truth to the claims?
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