Nuking the two Japanese cities saved more Japanese lives than it did Americans. And also saved more Japs from living under a Stalinist dictatorship.
I did watch an interesting video last night about British plans to nuke Japan.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XX9ptCNpik
Exactly.
By the time of the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki the Japanese Imperial navy was effectively incapable of defending the main island. Same with their air force, they couldn't produce enough planes or pilots fast enough to replace their losses. And the military knew it, advising the civilians to make spears for the impending invasion, rather than admitting surrender was the only remaining option.
In stand off operations US Naval and Air power could have hammered the islands day and night destroying whatever infrastructure was left along with the civilian population. Tokyo fire bombings repeated in every major city, town, and manufacturing complexes. In that scenario Japan would have been left huge losses especially among those of reproductive age above the already huge military losses. This without even mentioning mass suicides such as occurred on Saipan. Lost generations with drastically reduce manufacturing and agricultural capabilities would have set them back to at least the 19th century levels. A backward insignificant island with just a sustenance economy, ripe for a Red Army invasion, which they justly deserved.