Did Japanese emperor Hirohito really love Disney films and characters?

He did. In 1975, he even visited Disneyland in California, where he was given a Mickey Mouse watch - of which he was enormously proud. He is said to have worn it regularly after returning to Japan, including on official state occasions.

- Christopher Harding

Hirohito’s state visit to the US – the first ever by a Japanese emperor - marked an important moment in the rapprochement between Japan and the west after the Second World War. Disney was an apt part of that process, because Japanese popular culture had been deeply influenced by its cartoons before the war. During the war itself, though, Disney had become involved in making anti-Japanese propaganda, while in Japan all American influences had been banished – fashion, jazz and, very definitely, Disney.