This date marks the 78th Anniversary of the Atomic Bomb over Hiroshima.

[paleotn]

21. Really?

So we modified the Potsdam Agreement to allow Japan to retain the Showa Emperor just from the kindness of our hearts? When many in DC and London, plus a huge swath of the American people wanted him charged as a war criminal? The thinking among the Allies was Hirohito might be the only one who could turn off the Pacific war, and as events played out, even that was iffy.

Most of the Japanese military command structure did not back surrender...ever. The Japanese government couldn't come to consensus even AFTER Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the Russian invasion of Manchuria. The plan to destroy the Japanese people in one last monumental fit of kamikaze like violence was still in place. Hirohito finally stepped in by imperial rescript twice demanding the government surrender under the modified Potsdam terms. Both times illegally by the then Japanese constitution and standing law.

But even then, the hot heads in the Japanese army attempted several coups to stop the surrender, including taking over the imperial palace complex. Their thinking being the man-god emperor was being misled and needed their hot headed guidance. We err massively when we impose western thinking on a people and culture who aren't western. Their motivations and thinking process was not like ours and we still can't fully comprehend some facets of their culture that drove much of their government's and military's actions.

Today, most Japanese still don't look at the war like we do. They gloss over and ignore their own country's monumental butchery. In surrender, they went along to get along, but still don't recognize their national war crimes as Germany does.

For a better understanding, I recommend Ian Toll's Pacific war trilogy. Particularly the final volume "Twilight of the Gods" when it comes to what was going on in Japan towards the end. It's extremely well researched.