Hirohito and the Making of Modern Japan (110 page)

went to the palace and explained the situation to the emperor. Hirohito immediately decided to block any effort by T
g
to topple the cabinet. As far as T
j
was concerned, that settled the matter.

Armed with Hirohito's strong support, T
j
brought the issue to a head during the September 1 cabinet meeting, at which time T
g
threatened to resign. During the recess of the meeting, while T
g
returned to the Foreign Ministry, Hirohito sent Navy Minister Shimada Shigetar
to act as a mediator. T
g
now proposed a compromise plan, but T
j
high-handedly refused to consider it, whereupon T
g
quit and Hirohito immediately accepted his resignation. The next day he allowed T
j