Consider this and I encourage everyone to read the complete source. It is a well documented look at what the Japanese leadership was thinking for 6 days after we dropped the bomb.
http://www.mconway.net/page1/page15/files/Shock%20of%20Atomic%20Bomb.pdf
The Atomic Bomb as a “Gift from Heaven”
In a postwar interview (in November 1945), Kido explained
the decision to surrender in the following words: “The
feeling that the emperor and I had about the atomic bombing
was that the psychological moment we had long waited for had finally arrived to resolutely carry out the termination of the war.... We felt that if we took the occasion and utilized the psychological shock of the bomb to follow through, we might perhaps succeed in ending the war” (emphasis mine).71 In the same interview Kido went so far as to say that the U.S. government, by using the atomic bomb, actually intended to “assist” Japan’s peace party:I surmise that the atomic bomb was dropped with the intention of
posing a grave threat to Japanese leaders and the people at large,
forcefully compelling them to end the war. And certainly the bomb
had that effect. However, we of the peace party had already been
scheming for a termination of the war, and it is not correct to say that
we were driven by the atomic bomb to end the war. Rather, it might be
said that we of the peace party were assisted by the atomic bomb in our endeavor
to end the war.72 (emphasis mine)
and this, showing how for some, it didn’t make any difference.
Anami fiercely opposed Togo and Suzuki.
In fact, Anami’s utterances became almost irrational. As recalled
by those who attended the meetings, Anami declared:
“The appearance of the atomic bomb does not spell the end of
war....We are confident about a decisive homeland battle
against American forces.” He admitted that “given the atomic
bomb and the Soviet entry, there is no chance of winning on
the basis of mathematical calculation,” but he nevertheless declared
that “there will be some chance as long as we keep on
fighting for the honor of the Yamato race.... If we go on like
this and surrender, the Yamato race would be as good as dead
spiritually.” Such was the mentality of the Japanese military.
Urged by middle-echelon and young officers who were “half
mad,” Anami would not retreat from making the last sacrificial
homeland battle.64
More information here: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3320826/posts
Believe, I know.
I read a book written by someone with the US Occupying Army in Japan about the situation we would have faced if Operation Downfall had to go forward. I also read about what the civilians did at Okinawa.
There was one person on FR that said we should have blockaded Japan and “Just let them get hungry”. Of course there was two major problems with that.
First, the main armies of Japan were in China. Starving Japan would not have stopped them. It might have led to a similar situation the fueled the final stages of the Holocaust, where the Japanese decide to kill all the people they could.
Second, the islands of Japan do have some capacity to support a population. Starving millions to death would have left a smaller core, but the risk is they would be much more fanatical.
The Bomb was the least worst of the options. Not only did it end the war more quickly than the alternative, it also did so before Stalin could step in.