(1) Japan sought to develop an atomic bomb but failed due to inadequate resources and time. The effort though revealed Japan's lack of moral qualms about using atomic warfare against the US and others had they succeeded.
(2) The Japanese intended to kill all their prisoners of war as soon as the US invaded. As it was, US military prisoners held by the Japanese were treated brutally and suffered a 40 per cent death rate, which compares to a 1 per cent death rate suffered by US military prisoners held by the Nazis.
(3) The Japanese leadership, through intelligence sources and their atomic weapons research, knew that the US was ready and poised to use atomic bombs on the Japanese homeland. Surrender was discussed but not seen as necessary because US atomic bombs were judged as not militarily decisive due to the damage already inflicted by US air raids, the movement of key war industry plants to impervious deep mountain tunnels, and the low US production rate for atomic bombs.
(4) Immediately after the war, in order to deflect guilt for starting the war and for extraordinary brutality in waging it, Japan's leaders instructed their domestic allies and embassies abroad to propagandize against nuclear warfare as uniquely horrific. Perversely, this worked to develop sympathy for Japan despite its moral culpability. America's news media still annually discuss the atomic bombing of Japan as morally questionable, while the Rape of Nanking, the Bataan Death March, biological warfare against the Chinese, and many other Japanese atrocities are infrequently mentioned even in that context.
You folks make some great points. I am already at 805 words, so I doubt a piece this long piece will ever see the light of day and I see I only allude to your stories with a sentence at best. Thank you for your interest.
as per #4- it was as much the fault of that moron Douglas MacArthur that the Japs got off easy as much as anything else...from Unit 731 to everything else you mentioned, no one was feeling sorry for the Japs yet at the same time there was little pressure placed on them to really pay for their atrocities...were the world constantly reminded of Jap atrocities were constantly the way we are constantly reminded of the Holocaust, Japan would never be able to live it down...
Excellent points. Add to it, there hasn’t been a world war since and the bomb has clearly been a deterrent. Upwards of 72 million people died over the idol-worship of 3 humans (sub-humans). Instead of railing against the bomb, the focus ought to be on never, ever again of treating any individual(s) as messiah-types, especially those who’s history indicates a philosophy of centralized power.
Never, ever.
I’m not certain how a society should handle the phenomenon of the sadistic personality type. It all depends on the time and resources available. In war, such time and resources devoted to rehabilitation is severely limited. That the engineers of cultural sadism need to be got rid of ASAP cannot be argued against.