The 125th emperor of Japan, Akihito (born 1933), succeeded to the throne upon the death of his father, Hirohito, Jan. 7, 1989. He formally took office Nov. 12, 1990.

Crown Prince Akihito was born Dec. 23, 1933, to Emperor Hirohito and Empress Nagako. In keeping with rigid tradition, the boy was separated from his parents (except for once-a-week visits) at the age of three and brought up by court attendants. It was evidently a loveless, lonely existence made worse by World War II, when he was moved out of Tokyo for safety from Allied bombing attacks.

At war's end, the American occupying forces ended the boy's isolation, enabling him to attend high school and college with the sons of the established privileged classes. In addition, a Philadelphia Quaker, Elizabeth Gray Vining, was hired to tutor the royal heir in Western customs and values. It was a happy choice. Vining awakened the young man's interest in...