Emperor Showa’s monologue to be auctioned in New York

November 21, 2017

New York- The late Japanese Emperor's monologue will be auctioned in New York on Dec. 9, major auctioneer Bonhams has said.

"Showa Tenno Dokuhakuroku," or "The Emperor's Monologue" in English, was dictated to close aides to Emperor Hirohito, whose posthumous name is Emperor Showa, on events that took place before and during World War II.

Transcribed by former senior diplomat Hidenari Terasaki, it appeared in the Bungeishunju monthly Japanese magazine in 1990.

The 173-page monologue will come in two volumes at the auction, expected to sell for 100,000 to 150,000 dollars.

"Bonhams is thrilled to have been given this opportunity to sell the only extant copy of a document that is critical to our understanding of 20th-centuray world history," the auction house's senior official said in a press release. Jiji Press