Racial discrimination against other Asians was habitual in Imperial Japan, having begun with the start of Japanese colonialism. The Meiji era Japanese showed a contempt for other Asians. This was exemplified in an editorial titled "Datsu-A Ron," which advocated that Japan treat other Asians as other western empires treat them. The Shōwa regime preached racial superiority and racialist theories, based on nature of "Yamato-damashii." According to historian Kurakichi Shiratori, one of Emperor Hirohito's teachers: "Therefore nothing in the world compares to the divine nature ("shinsei") of the imperial house and likewise the majesty of our national polity ("kokutai"). Here is one great reason for Japan's superiority."