PRESIDENT RECEIVES CABLE OF GRATITUDE FROM JAPANESE EMPEROR
Washington, D.C. (JFK+50) On September 6, 1923, President Calvin Coolidge received a cablegram from the Emperor of Japan. The contents of the message read...
"The President, Washington, D.C.,
I am deeply touched by your profoundest sympathy and kindness offer in our appalling calamity. I beg of you to accept my heartfelt gratitude to you and the American people.
YOSHIHITO*"
*Taisho, Emperor Yoshihito (1879-1926) was born in Tokyo, Japan & was the 1st heir to the throne to receive a public education. His son was Crown Prince Hirohito.
After 1919, the Emperor was unable to participate in official duties due to ill health & died of a heart attack at the age of 47 in 1926.
JFK+50 NOTE
The calamity referred to by the Emperor was the earthquake of September 1 1923 which struck Honshu, the main island of Japan, resulting in more than 100,000 deaths & is described as the worst natural disaster in the history of the nation.
SOURCES
"Japanese Emperor Thanks Coolidge," The Evening Star, Washington, D.C., September 6, 1923, Chronicling America, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/
"Yoshihito," BYU Library, www.net.lib.byu.edu/
