Hirohito Suffers From More Bleeding

TOKYO — An exhausted Emperor Hirohito slept most of the day Thursday after suffering more bleeding episodes during the night, palace officials said.

The bleeding was the first sign of internal hemorrhaging by the 87-year-old monarch in more than two weeks.

Hirohito’s internal bleeding, apparently from his upper intestine, began Sept. 19.

After more than two months’ confinement to his bed, the emperor has grown increasingly feeble. He sleeps much of the time and generally is too weak to speak, although he understands what is being said to him, the palace official said.

Doctors gave Hirohito a blood transfusion Thursday to combat his worsening anemia, Imperial Household Agency spokesman Kenji Maeda said. The transfusion raised the total amount of blood the emperor has received since Sept. 19 to nearly 44 1/2 pints, more than five times the normal amount in his body.