Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
Editorials & Other Articles
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: What the Oliver Stone docu says about the nuclear bombing of Japan is... [View all]hack89
(39,181 posts)123. The Japanese government knew exactly what happened at Hiroshima within hours.
the government had first hand accounts within hours.
The Tokyo control operator of the Broadcasting Corporation of Japan noticed that the Hiroshima station had gone off the air. He tried to re-establish his program by using another telephone line, but it too had failed.[93] About 20 minutes later the Tokyo railroad telegraph center realized that the main line telegraph had stopped working just north of Hiroshima. From some small railway stops within 16 km (9.9 mi) of the city came unofficial and confused reports of a terrible explosion in Hiroshima. All these reports were transmitted to the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff.
Military bases repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid had occurred and that no sizable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at headquarters that nothing serious had taken place and that the explosion was just a rumor.[94]
The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 160 km (99 mi) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning. Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the land still burning and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke was all that was left. They landed south of the city, and the staff officer, after reporting to Tokyo, began to organize relief measures.[94]
By 8 August 1945, newspapers in the US were reporting that broadcasts from Radio Tokyo had described the destruction observed in Hiroshima. "Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death", Japanese radio announcers said in a broadcast received by Allied sources.[95]
Military bases repeatedly tried to call the Army Control Station in Hiroshima. The complete silence from that city puzzled the men at headquarters; they knew that no large enemy raid had occurred and that no sizable store of explosives was in Hiroshima at that time. A young officer of the Japanese General Staff was instructed to fly immediately to Hiroshima, to land, survey the damage, and return to Tokyo with reliable information for the staff. It was generally felt at headquarters that nothing serious had taken place and that the explosion was just a rumor.[94]
The staff officer went to the airport and took off for the southwest. After flying for about three hours, while still nearly 160 km (99 mi) from Hiroshima, he and his pilot saw a great cloud of smoke from the bomb. In the bright afternoon, the remains of Hiroshima were burning. Their plane soon reached the city, around which they circled in disbelief. A great scar on the land still burning and covered by a heavy cloud of smoke was all that was left. They landed south of the city, and the staff officer, after reporting to Tokyo, began to organize relief measures.[94]
By 8 August 1945, newspapers in the US were reporting that broadcasts from Radio Tokyo had described the destruction observed in Hiroshima. "Practically all living things, human and animal, were literally seared to death", Japanese radio announcers said in a broadcast received by Allied sources.[95]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atomic_bombings_of_Hiroshima_and_Nagasaki#Japanese_realization_of_the_bombing
Edit history
Please sign in to view edit histories.
Recommendations
0 members have recommended this reply (displayed in chronological order):
246 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
RecommendedHighlight replies with 5 or more recommendations
What the Oliver Stone docu says about the nuclear bombing of Japan is... [View all]
redgreenandblue
Aug 2013
OP
The invasion of the home islands of Japans was estimated 10 - 1 losses, with the US losing
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#10
I had relatives who had prepared their wills and written their "I love you goodbye" letters
MADem
Aug 2013
#55
I remember watching Saving Private Ryan and in one scene they were signing wills or something
dlwickham
Aug 2013
#225
WRONG again: There was no race. Patton was ordered to the let the Russians take Berlin first
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#181
What does Patton have to do with the Asian Theater? Honestly, you're way off topic.
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#221
And yet, a few years later, the Soviets has nukes. And two Jews, the Rosenbergs, were blamed
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#165
Never occured to you that Japan surrendered to us because the Soviets would have,...
Spitfire of ATJ
Aug 2013
#172
China fell to the communists not because of WW2, but because of the corruption of the KMT and the
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#179
I consider the research done for my dissertataion valid, as do my professors
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#222
The Soviets would have done nothing. They had ZERO sea invasion capability. N/T
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#191
To be more exact, it was Prince Asaka that lead the Rape of Nanking, Hirohito's uncle.
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#177
Actually, those around him went with the story that he wanted peace for the good of his people....
Spitfire of ATJ
Aug 2013
#207
The mainland gains were ALREADY gone. The U.S. Navy had cut the shipping lines.
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#216
A very good historiography that sorts out the conflicting claims that are made...
Waiting For Everyman
Aug 2013
#8
I think the US was more afraid of the USSR having time to take all of China than Japan was of...
JVS
Aug 2013
#71
There are long-standing disputes between Russia and Japan over some northern islands
1-Old-Man
Aug 2013
#57
Oliver Stone is a guy who, when he hears hoofbeats, he thinks zebras, not horses.
MADem
Aug 2013
#58
I am not, I am pointing out that timing does not in itsself imply causation.
redgreenandblue
Aug 2013
#18
I cannot address it, because I lack in dept knowledge of the broader situation.
redgreenandblue
Aug 2013
#27
The atomic bombs killed fewer people than the firebombing of Dresden or Tokyo
Recursion
Aug 2013
#46
I do not understand why you insist that Hirohito was any more credible than anyone else involved.
Enthusiast
Aug 2013
#39
My friend, you are displaying the patience of Job and, for that, I salute you. - nt
HardTimes99
Aug 2013
#119
AT that point in the war, Manchuria was ALREADY a lost cause for the Japanese.
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#190
Manchuria is northeastern China and Japan should never have occupied it in the first place
Nanjing to Seoul
Aug 2013
#195
According the Japanese Emperor Hirohito, it WAS the bomb that forced the end.
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#90
Would the world be a better place if we had allowed Germany and Japan to win?
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#69
Would the world be a better place if the Soviets had gained world domination? N/T
GreenStormCloud
Aug 2013
#84
Your comments were not accurate. We aren't talking about 12 ladies in a knitting circle.
MADem
Aug 2013
#134
No, and as I said, you are demonstrating your bias with your stubborn refusal to admit your error.
MADem
Aug 2013
#162
What this is about is your refusal to acknowledge that you said no women served in uniform.
MADem
Aug 2013
#168
Technical Note: I think LeMay wanted to 'nuke' the Vietnamese back into the Stone Age (not
HardTimes99
Aug 2013
#121
Your uncertainty ("I just can't tell anymore") is understandable. I've recently become
HardTimes99
Aug 2013
#128
I think you can be safe in assuming that 99.9% of the time, it's being used in a
MADem
Aug 2013
#129
Well, the "Greatest Generation" is dying off at a fast clip--he's figuring there's no one left to
MADem
Aug 2013
#138
"the bombs had no effect on the willingness of the Japanese to surrender"? Each and every Japanese?
AnotherMcIntosh
Aug 2013
#209
Yep. And I suspect that not each and everyone in the gov't was ready to throw in the towel.
AnotherMcIntosh
Aug 2013
#219