Windows for the Crown Prince: Akihito of Japan

by Elizabeth Gray Vining

Summary

A fascinating inside account of the formative years of Akihito, the reigning Emperor of Japan, written by his trusted Amer. tutor, the late Elizabeth Gray Vining. During the U.S. Occupation of Japan after WW2, the director of the U.S. educ. advisory mission to Japan recommended Mrs. Vining to 'open windows onto a wider world for the Crown Prince'. Mrs. Vining was born into an old Quaker family in Phila. in 1902. In 1946, Japanese Emperor Hirohito selected Mrs. Vining to be a tutor for the Crown Prince, the future Emperor Akihito, a position she held for 4 years. She was eventually to be a tutor to most of the Imperial Family, including Empress Nagako. After returning to the U.S., Mrs. Vining maintained a close, lifelong relationship with the family. Ill.