*Through Okinawa, the number of Japanese troops who surrendered, despite obvious evidence their units were destroyed and they had no hope of winning, was almost ZERO. On Iwo Jima, fewer than 2,000 prisoners (almost all wounded) were taken out of a garrison of 20,000. There was no evidence, anywhere, that the Japanese civilians on Hokkaido or any other island would actually surrender.
Part of that was because of the Japanese treatment of POW’s. They figured that we treat POW’s the same way, and did NOT want that “embarrassment”, or “shame”.
Not saying we didn’t, but we didn’t as de rigeur, for them, it was a Tuesday.
The civilians on Okinawa were also told that we would rape the women, kill and eat the children, etc. Lots of civilians killed themselves rather than getting captured.
I recall some Japanese person (a child at the time?) talking about it, and how surprised they were when the GI’s came through afterwards and bringing food and medical help instead.
I know you both know this but there may be those that do not.
The policies of No Surrender, Fight to the Last Man, and accompanying civilians committing suicide had been going on long before Okinawa. For the prior year, or better, virtually every island we fought on had that tenacity and bloody end as we fought our way west. It wasn’t just an opinion that they would kill their own population in fighting to the last man, it was an acknowledged certainty.