Hirohito Given 8th Transfusion

Emperor Hirohito received another blood transfusion today and more intravenous doses of nutrients, but a newspaper said the 87-year-old monarch’s strength was waning dangerously after nine days without solid food.

The 0.43-pint transfusion was Hirohito’s eighth in six days and brought the total since his condition worsened on Sept. 19 to 6.8 pints, more than two-thirds the usual amount of blood in the emperor’s body, news reports said. Palace officials said earlier that the emperor had discharged a small amount of blood, a sign his internal bleeding had not stopped.