Comments by "rejvaik" (@rejvaik00) on "Why the Japanese Military wanted to fight on after(!) the 2nd Nuke (feat. D.M. Giangreco)" video.

  1. As a side note without the influence of Brigadier General Fellers the Showa emperor would have been tried for war crimes as he was taken off the protected list in 1946. Gen Douglas MacArthur tasked Brig Gen Fellers to find evidence to help exonerate the Showa emperor. Historian Herbert P. Bix wrote an amazing book in 2002 titled Hirohito about this subject
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  2. Without the influence of prime minister Kinoe the Japanese and their peace faction and the emperor Showa, would never had accepted surrender
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  3. Solowarrior1221 You are absolutely correct, the US could have out produced them by any industrial capacity in 1945. However the entirety of the Japanese mindset had eliminated the very idea of surrender. It didn't exist in the culture. For over two years thousand years of Japanese warfare culture there were only 3 outcomes when it came to deadly conflict; victory, death with honor, or death without honor. If the Japanese held one thing highest of all else it was their pride and honor. And that was noticed by the allied forces. They were not kidding when they reached the conclusion in 1944 after Iwo Jima that the Japanese would rather destroy their entire people, culture, and identity than suffer dishonour by defeat at a foreign enemy. Nothing could break that Japanese mentality, not even atomic weapons and millions of casualties. It took a very small Japanese minority of western learned men to realize that the ENTIRETY of Japanese identity and it's civilization was on the line, and they HAD to convince the nation to surrender. Which was no easy task and it was potentially deadly. When Prime Minister Kinoe tried to act on the Orders of the Showa, he was nearly killed and imprisoned by the military officers who launched a coup attempt immediately after the Emperor's decision and broadcast. It was quickly put down. But that goes to show how fanatical they held onto the belief. Not only that a large number of units that did finally hear the Emperor's order thought it was a trick and ignored it. There is a case of one Japanese soldier who continued to fight until 1974, and wouldn't quit until his commander personally told him to stop. That right there shows the dedication the Japanese as a whole had to the idea of not surrendering to a foreign enemy.
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