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| quote: | Originally posted by pkcRAISTLIN
i dunno.
link
im not especially astute in judging unknown online material, i just kinda read it sometimes and see if it passes the bullshit detector  the article seemed reasonably compelling to me tho. |
And I haven't seen any revisionist attempt to address the response by the Japanese hawks with respect to the decision to surrender:
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Late on the night of August 12, 1945, Major Hatanaka, along with Lieutenant Colonels Masataka Ida, Masahiko Takeshita, and Masao Inaba, and Colonel Okitsugu Arao, the Chief of the Military Affairs Section, spoke to War Minister Korechika Anami, hoping for his support, and asking him to do whatever he could to prevent acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. General Anami refused to say whether he would or would not help the young officers in treason. As much as they needed his support, Hatanaka and the other rebels decided they had no choice but to continue planning and to pull off the 'coup' on their own.
Hatanaka spent much of the 13th and the morning of the 14th gathering allies, seeking support from the higher-ups in the Ministry, and of course perfecting his plot. Around 9:30 on the night of the 14th, Hatanaka's rebels set their plan into motion. The Second Regiment of the First Imperial Guards had entered the palace grounds, doubling the strength of the battalion already stationed there, presumably to provide extra protection against Hatanaka's rebellion. However, Hatanaka, along with Lt. Col. Jiro Shiizaki, now convinced the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the First Imperial Guards, Colonel Toyojiro Haga, of their cause, and (untruthfully) that the War Minister, Army Chief of Staff, and the commanders of the Eastern District Army and Imperial Guards Divisions were all in on the plan.
Originally, Hatanaka hoped that by simply occupying the Palace, by simply showing the beginnings of a rebellion, the rest of the Army would be inspired and would rise up against the move to surrender. This philosophy guided him through much of the last days and hours, and gave him the blind optimism to move ahead with the plan, despite having little support from his superiors. Having set all the pieces into position, Hatanaka and his co-conspirators decided that the Guard would take over the Palace at 2 am. The hours until then were spent in continued attempts to convince their superiors in the Army to join the 'coup'. At about the same time, General Anami committed seppuku, leaving a message that, "I—with my death—humbly apologize to the Emperor for the great crime." Whether the crime involved losing the war, or the coup, remains unclear.
At some time after one o'clock that morning, Hatanaka killed Lt. General Takeshi Mori, Commander of the 1st Imperial Guards Division, when Mori refused to side with him. Hatanaka feared that Mori would order the Guards to stop the rebellion. Lt. Col. Jiro Shiizaki and Captain Shigetaro Uehara of the Air Force Academy were also present in the room, and Uehara is presumed to have killed Lt. Col. Michinori Shiraishi, Staff Officer of the 2nd General Army. These were the only two murders of the night. Hatanaka then used General Mori's official stamp to authorize Strategic Order No. 584, a false set of orders created by his co-conspirators, which would greatly increase the strength of the forces occupying the Imperial Palace and Imperial House Ministry, and "protecting" the Emperor. The Palace police were disarmed, and all the entrances blocked; but as of yet, no one in the Imperial House Ministry was aware of what was transpiring. Over the course of the night, Hatanaka's rebels captured and detained eighteen people, including Ministry staff, and NHK workers sent to record the surrender speech.
The rebels, led by Hatanaka, spent the next several hours searching for the Imperial House Minister, the Lord of the Privy Seal, and the recordings of the surrender speech. They never found the recordings, which were hidden among pieces of bedding in an emergency cupboard. The search was made more difficult not only by a blackout, caused by Allied bombings, but also by the archaic organization and layout of the Imperial House Ministry. Many of the rooms' names were unrecognizable to the rebels. During their search, the rebels cut nearly all of the telephone wires, severing communications between their prisoners on the Palace Grounds and the outside world.
Around 3 AM, Hatanaka was informed by Lt Col Ida that the Eastern District Army was on its way to the Palace to stop him, and that he should simply give up. Finally, seeing his plan crumbling to pieces around him, Hatanaka tried to plead with the Chief of Staff of the Eastern District Army to be given at least ten minutes on the air (on NHK radio), to explain to the people of Japan what he was trying to accomplish and why. He was refused. Colonel Haga, commander of the 2nd Regiment of the First Imperial Guards, now discovered that the Army was not, in fact, in support of this rebellion, and he ordered Hatanaka to leave the Palace Grounds.
Just before five in the morning, as his rebellion continued its search, Major Hatanaka went to NHK studios, and, brandishing a pistol, tried desperately to get some airtime, to explain his actions. A little over an hour later, after receiving a phone call from the Eastern District Army, Hatanaka finally gave up. He gathered his officers, and walked out of the NHK studio.
By 8 AM, the rebellion was entirely dismantled, having succeeded in holding the Palace Grounds for much of the night, but ultimately failing to find the recordings. Hatanaka, on a motorcycle, and Lt. Col. Jiro Shiizaki on horseback, rode through the streets, tossing leaflets that explained their motives, and their actions.
Within an hour before the Emperor's broadcast, sometime around 11 AM, August 15, Major Hatanaka placed his pistol to his forehead, and pulled the trigger. In his pocket was found his death poem: "I have nothing to regret now that the dark clouds have disappeared from the reign of the Emperor."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surren...litary_Reaction
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I hate quoting wiki but I can't find the history channel special that documented the attempted coup/rebellion. So the Japanese sooo respected their "god" like emperor that they attempted a rebellion to prevent his radio address? C'mon now ...
And this is hindsight 20/20 vision 60 years after the fact. Do you really think the allies had this insight into the Japanese government beyond a reasonable doubt as to whether they would surrender? Sure there were Japanese doves, but the Hawks had dominated throughout the war so what indications were there that the doves had substantive control when there were attempted coups and rebellions even in the 11th hour??
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Retro ...
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