TOKYO, Sept. 25, 1945 (UP) - Japan is now on an entirely new footing and will prove itself equal to membership in the family of nations, Emperor Hirohito told the United Press in an interview today.
The emperor said that a democratic Japanese form of government which will evolve in time may not necessarily follow the exact pattern of democracy in the United States and Britain, but it is his desire and intention that his people be made to appreciate the value of democratic government.
Hirohito said that Japan was in urgent need of food. He is much exercised about the prospects for winter when millions of Japanese will be without clothing, shelter and fuel.
According to court procedure, my questions were submitted in writing several days before the audience and as I left the imperial household departmental building the questions and written answers were handed to me.
However, my conversation with the emperor lasted 25 minutes during which tea was served. During this conversation, the emperor said that he expected to have a visit with Gen. Douglas MacArthur very soon.
In written answers regarding the democratic future of Japan, the emperor said that he believes that an immediate revolutionary change of the form of government of Japan is neither possible nor desirable.
The emperor said that he would like to ask people of the United Nations to observe the future trend of Japan closely now that the nation has started on what he describes as a new road of peace in furtherance of which he said he would employ every means at his disposal to reach the desired goal.
The audience started promptly at 4 p.m., when the double doors of his chamber opened and Hirohito entered. He was attired in a frock coat, striped trousers, stiff batwing collar with curved rather than pointed edges and a four-in-hand tie.
Hirohito impressed me as being rather taller than I had expected. He wore steel-rimmed glasses and his hair was not as closely cropped as I had anticipated.
He had a rather scholarly air reminiscent of a traditional college professor.
During the audience, silence fell once or twice as it would between any two men. He broke it once by asking me about my hobbies - if any - and a second time by inquiring what fronts I had visited during the war.
During each of these brief intervals of silence between us, no one else present said a word.
The emperor was accompanied by the minister of imperial households, S. Ishiwata; the grand chamberlain of the imperial household, Adm. H. Fujita, and the grandmaster of ceremonies, Baron M. Takei.
The emperor and myself sat vis-
