The late Emperor Hirohito, posthumously known as Emperor Showa, should have stepped down from the throne when Japan lost World War II to take responsibility for the war, opposition lawmaker Naoto Kan said Sunday. "He did not have any direct political responsibility for the war since the emperor's role was basically limited under the prewar Meiji Constitution," Kan said on a Fuji TV political debate show, "but he did have responsibility symbolically." Kan said he believes the emperor should have abdicated after the end of the war "so Japan could come to terms with the war politically and symbolically."