World War II was a war no one anticipated to be as horrific and

excruciating as it was. Some of the actions performed during the Second

World War were of such magnitude, that those who survived were torn for
their lives, the children suffering along side the parents, as the ripples of
time collided with the shoulders of those men and women who where forced
into a battle for their lives and their future. The unjust burdens pushed down
on the reluctant participants of this war ended in more than just their pains
and suffering, but the pains and suffering of hundreds of thousands of
others, although this was unjustifiably unable to be altered. After the
surrender of the German Army lead by the infamous Nazi Regime in May of
1945, the attention of the Allied forces quickly shifted towards the Japanese
Empire. The island-hopping strategy adopted by the U.S. Navy successfully
brought a new aircraft that would destroy and bring life to this war. President
Truman was obligated to use extreme force against seemingly impossible
odds in the shape and form of a never forgiving, never-ending enemy: The
Japanese Empire. Many cogs where in motion after the United States offered
Japan the opportunity for an unconditional surrender, and after an analysis
of this article we will see key people that shaped the world.
In the summer of 1945, Japanese people called Prime Minister Kanto
and his cabinet ministers the government and these ruling elites where the
first to discuss the Potsdam Declaration around Emperor Hirohito. These key
people had many motives to bring the World War II to an end short of

Japan's further annihilation and unconditional surrender to the AngloAmericans. Even though many sought this, only the emperor had the
sovereign power to resolve the issue. During the entire month of June and
well into July, when U.S. terror bombing of Japanese civilian targets peaked,
he resisted and showed no determination to do so. The Japanese empire
followed a policy of military takeover with support of its Emperor, military
establishment, and many in the educated elite who sought Japanese rule
and impact throughout the Pacific Ocean and East Asia. After seeing that the
Soviet Union would not join the New World order, Japan and Germany
formed an anti-communist front aimed directly at the Soviet Union. After the
formation of the Axis, Italy joined in arms with the other two communist
countries and took over Ethiopia.
Although there is a lot of dates and information written in this article,
the author was able to analyze and reflect on what happened in Japan and
the decisions that lead them into the war, stay in the war, and the reason
they decided not to surrender to the United States. The article seems to use
very different approach than norm; it tries to make sense of certain
decisions that the Japanese Empire took against the U.S. due to speculation
and fear of their countries status postwar. Due to the authors ability to take
a different approach we are able to see the stance Japan look from a
different perspective other than the U.S. position. Even though it is
ultimately a reflection of history, the author did not summarize a book or an

article; the author wrote an original feature, but definitely uses many
sources. As seen from the short summary of the article so far, the author
has talked about the Japanese leaderships ability to investigate the best way
to leave the war, and their calculation for the best possible end game.
Koshiro also talks about the reasons why Japan decided to join the Axis and
Ultimately Japan decided not to take the United States proposal for
Unconditional Surrender.
According to the author, Japan initiated its policy of military takeover
by invading Chinese Manchuria in 1931. Six years after the invasion of
Manchuria, Japan invaded China in order to unleash World War II in Asia.
After more than 80 days of continuous fighting, the Allied forces where able
to capture the Japanese island of Okinawa, but the cost was atrocious; with
more than 150,000 casualties on both sides, and tens of thousands of
civilians dead (many by their own hand). Okinawa was seen as a painful
preview of a planned full invasion of Japan, and Allied generals predicted
massive casualties if it took place. Although some Japanese were in fact
taken prisoner, many Japanese fought until they were killed or committed
suicide. To the horror of American troops advancing on Saipan, they saw
mothers clutching their babies hurling themselves over the cliffs rather than
be taken prisoner. In the culmination of the war, Japan had virtually no
survivors of the 30,000 Japanese garrison in Saipan, two out of every three
civilians also died. Another enduring image of total sacrifice and refusal to

surrender is that of the kamikaze pilot. The pilots crashing their planes
packed with high explosives into an enemy warship. To this day, the word
'kamikaze' suggests the crazed, mindless destruction of the Japanese fighter
pilots.
So why did Japan decide no to surrender to the United States under
the Potsdam proposition? According to the author, many Japanese soldiers in
the prime of their youth, and to act in such a way was a complex mixture of
the times they lived in. Japans senior military officials also lived in a
different time period and they still had the Japanese ancient warrior tradition
and mentality. Many had an immense amount of societal pressure, economic
necessity and ultimately, sheer desperation. The author also explains that
the Japanese government also looked into foreign media, and found U.S.
plans for controlling Japan post-surrender. In May 1944, the ministers of
Sweden, Okamoto Suemana, sent an article to Tokyo named Svenska
Dagbladet. This article suggested that White Americas was interested in
turning the newly defeated Japanese Empire into a stronghold of anticommunism in Asia. Takagi Sokichi, the Japanese Navy's leading planner
portrayed the United States on its ambition to establish a U.S. centered
capitalistic market after the war. The author explains that due to this goal,
the United States would very likely aid Japan's reconstruction. As part of the
American system, Japan would quickly recover as a capitalist society and
regain credibility in the international community. On the other hand,

according to the author in early July 1945, Japanese Empire gathered

intelligence saying that the Soviet Union would mandate Sakhalin,
Manchuria, and Korea as spoils of war, regardless of the result of the victory
against Japan. Rather than giving these territories up to the Soviets, just
surrender to the United States immediately and let them all fall under the
U.S. sphere of influence. Obviously, that was not the final option.
Even after all the extensive planning by the Japanese Empire, is seems
as though the Japaneses decide to wait out the storm and see what
happened. They didnt know which road to pick, which way to turn, back up
against a wall closing in to the end. As we know from high school history
classes, President Truman had no other option than to use extreme force
against them, and decided to drop two atomic bombs on the major civilian
cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, while atrocious, this was a step were
required to end a continually draining war, of which there was no foreseeable
end. There is no denying that the attacks on Japan were horrible, killing
thousands, but in all honesty the life and preservation of the United States of
America, and its soldiers, were of far more importance than the survival of
dangerous civilians and their homes, instead at the cost of those US soldiers.
President Truman, this civilian in control of the military, made the decision to
save those soldiers' lives, and preserve the continuity of democracy and
freedom in the world. The totalitarian dictatorship that was Japan was
defeated after multiple nuclear weapons were detonated over the country's

territories. That alone is a sign of the persistence of their people and the
lengths they would have gone through to continue the fight against the
United States.