[Buddha-l] Re: Greetings from Oviedo

[Stephen Hodge]

Lance Cousins wrote:

> My initial statement may have been a little strong, but it is clear that
> the U.S. knew that Japan was making peace overtures. It is evident that a
> decision was made to not explore that possibility.

The views of Tsuyoshi Hasegawa as summarized in the BBC link you gave are 
not particularly new.  I have Japanese books dealing with the end months of 
the Pacific War from which it is apparent that these claims about Japanese 
peace overtures have been commonplace in Japan for decades.  Without benefit 
of access to all the surviving primary sources, it would seem plausible that 
the both the US and Japan would have a vested interest in presenting a 
somewhat different account of these peace overtures, each favouring and 
justifying their own perspective.  But as they say, it's the victors who 
always write the history.

Additionally, the polito-military situation in Japan during the last months 
of the Pacific War as things began to unravel dramatically, bordering on 
anarchy, was also very complex with a number of factions, civilian and 
military, each with conflicting agendas, some pro-peace, some prepared for a 
conditional or partial cessation of hostilities, and others prepared to 
fight to the bitter end (some were also prepared to deposd or even murder 
the Emperor) -- even the Imperial Army, Navy and Air Force were at 
loggerheads by then, both internally and externally.

If the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had not have ocurred, it is 
difficult to determine who would have ultimately prevailed.  However, Japan 
was virtually exhausted and would have found it difficult to defend the 
country in any meaningful sense within a very short space of time after 
August 1945.  I also have the testimony of a very high-ranking Japanese 
officer based in the military headquarters in Tokyo, whom I knew personally, 
who also believed that the pro-peace faction would have prevailed within a 
matter of weeks after the late Soviet entry into the Pacific War -- perhaps 
all the Allies need to have done would have been to sit back and wait.

Best wishes,
Stephen Hodge