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Paper short abstract

In the 1950s, Japanese alpinists mounted a series of expeditions culminating in a first ascent of the world's eighth-highest mountain, Manaslu. I argue that the climbs built a relationship between the Japanese and Nepali monarchies that rehabilitated the Shōwa emperor as a diplomat and civic patron.

Paper long abstract

Between 1952 and 1956, Japanese alpinists mounted a series of highly publicized expeditions to Manaslu (8163m), the world’s eighth-highest mountain located in the Nepal Himalaya. As historians have argued, the 1956 summit was a step toward the restoration of national pride in the wake of defeat in World War II and the disgrace of the Allied Occupation. This talk focuses on the under-explored significance of the climbs in building a relationship between the Japanese and Nepali monarchies. I argue that, through contact with one of Asia’s few remaining royal families, the Japanese imperial house whitewashed the Shōwa emperor’s responsibility for wartime atrocities, normalized him as a constitutional sovereign, and established his role as goodwill diplomat and patron of civic society.