Replies

Every August 9, for the last umpteen years, we have been treated to the impossible to prove and libelous charge that "Bombing Hiroshima and Nagasaki was unnecessary because the Japanese were 'ready' to surrender" trope. During August of 1945, Japan was governed by a military dictatorship, and even after two nuke hits, many military leaders were not deterred from fighting on, rightly-sensing that the US did not have very many of these weapons to whip-out right away; rather, they argued that the Americans were engaging in high-tech psy-ops on both the Emperor and the Japanese Cabinet. The Japanese military was not happy that the Emperor appeared to buckle in the face of (not so) cheap pyrotechnics, and at least one of the older officers committed seppuku out of both frustration and anger, while the younger officers staged an almost-successful coup to stop the Emperor's "It's time to bear the unbearable (and surrender)" first-time broadcast to the nation. If an NHK Radio producer had not well-hidden the recording of Hirohito's surrender broadcast, at least another half-million American and Japanese would all-too-likely have faced death and dismemberment during both Operation Olympic and Operation Coronet, especially since their plans included nuclear carpet-bombing of the invasion beaches.