IIRC, the repudiation of the divinity was condition under which the Allies agreed not to kill him post WWII. But, I thought I saw a documentary a few years ago, in which they claim Hirohito wanted to do this anyway. Does my memory fail me?
There is no evidence that the Emperor Hirohito ever objected to his semi-divine status before or during the war. After the war, he did what was necessary to retain his throne; there was never anything so formal as a decision “not to kill” him in return for renunciation of divinity. See “Embracing Defeat” by John W. Dower for a thorough discussion of the give-and-take that went into the Emperor’s “Rescript to Promote the National Destiny” (a.k.a. his “renunication of divinity”) of January 1, 1946.