The Kyujo Incident The Coup that Almost Kept Japan in WWII
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- Опубліковано 16 вер 2024
- Discover the gripping true story of the Kyujo Incident - a failed coup that almost prevented Japan's surrender in WWII. Learn how small inflection points changed the course of history forever.
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I want more people to know about this whenever the story around Japanese unconditional surrender in 1945 is on the internet: the militarists in Japan believed that all hundred million loyal subjects of the emperor must "shatter like jade", or fight to the bitter end. The number hundred million includes not only "Japanese" Japanese but also their colonial subjects in Taiwan and Korean Peninsula. Japan wanted to make two landmasses with dozens of millions of people into country-sized Okinawa, where ethnically different people were squeezed between Allied forces and Japanese defenders. Their fanaticism was squarely within the realm of insanity.
that sort of stuff is what happens when you genuinely believe your leader (in japans case the emperor) is divinity on earth, remember the Japanese imperial family still official claims to be descendants of the Japanese sun goddess Amaterasu. Most Monarchies have used some version of this, there is a reason the term 'divine right of kings' exists but odds are most people with some form of power understand its nonsense used to justify the monarchs reign and keep the peasants in line. But thats not to knock its effect you can see it throughout history true believer armies can be terrifying because they will do things no one that doesn't believe will do, hell christian martyrdom is also rooted in this because who but someone that believes dying for their beliefs would go through what some christian martyrs are meant to go through. That insane logic makes perfect sense if you really go believe your leader is a god/demi-god on earth because a lot of true believer don't understand how others don't see there leader as that especially if those others are also counted as subjects of said leader.
More context in 1940 japan built a monument celebrating the 2600th anniversary of the ascension to the throne of the mythological founder of the imperial family and arrested and charged the one historian that publicly said he never existed. So yeah people seemed to genuinely at that time believes this stuff in japan and gunny enough the Americans gov understanding that the Japanese saw the imperial family this way is apparently the main reason the Americans didn't try and force japan into becoming a republic once they won because of worry it would cause long term resentment against America .
@@cancermcaids7688 In fact, some politicians had already worked to end the war.
However, there were more insane people than that.
@@drayle71 It's not just Imperial Japan. During the British Empire, the British Monarch used to be seen as the closest being to God because they had the authority to enforce that belief onto the "subjects". (To this day, the Queen/King of England is still the 'Supreme Governor of the Church of England'.
For the most extreme example of this, look at North Korea's Kim Dynasty. Even the concept of "supreme leader" is straight outta a cult.
@King Ace There's a difference between divinity and being head of a church. The British monarch is always considered as the head of the Church of England, never as some sort of divine figure.
You're not wrong about the Kim's though (which is laughable as Communism is supposed to promote Atheism).
Yo, Stalin! Will you mediate?
Stalin- Mmmm….. Manchuria
Never knew about this but mot really surprised. Always thought Hirohito was clever and smart in announcing the surrender via nationwide radio broadcast. By doing so, he ensured that the subordinates of any soldier attemptibg to continue the fighting would know he was doing so in direct opposition to the express wishes of Japan's god-Emperor.
And he did so using a very formal court language few in Japan could even understand.
Orrrr the Japan's military was full of narcissistic, arrogant, delusional bafoons who underestimated the greatest country on earth with a military that the dismissed as anything more than a nuisance....Japan absolutely deserved to be nuked a 100 times over for Unit 731 alone
Except Hiroo Onoda
So many unremembered heroes of history, like Gen. Mori. How many Japanese civilians and Allied servicemen lived because of his principled stand against an insane, suicidal plan, at the cost of his own life?
True
@@merlijnbazuine5075 *zealous insanity that got 2 million men and 500,000+ Japanese civilians killed. Same mentality that led Japan to kill between 3.5 and 10 MILLION Chinese from 1937 to 1944.
Your post is a joke. He was such a great man. He would’ve put an end to that war long before that they only gave up because we were using the atom bombs. The Japanese got exactly what they had coming talking piece, and then making a sneak attack. They might fight with us when we go round and round with China but that’s because I hate China. Don’t trust the Japanese if it’s in their best interest of status in the back again.
Jabs were a bunch of goofy midgets. At all like what they did back then and I don’t like them or trust him now.
"The (Potsdam) conference's warning of prompt and utter destruction, as far as the Japanese knew, was a reference to the invasion of the home islands. When Japan ignored that ultimatum, the allies issued a clarification and made it exceptionally clear they would not be invading the home islands directly, but ... well, that clarification didn't come via written correspondence. It came from the Enola Gay."
This is golden writing and delivery. Very well done episode.
The allies were planning on invading the Japanese home islands - but five atomic strikes would come before that (two actually occurred, a third was scheduled for August 20 on Kokura). Twelve further strikes were scheduled for the actual invasion beaches a half hour before the actual landings occurred in November.
That replaced the previous plan to hit Japan with all the nerve gases and other chemical weapons seized from Germany.
Nuclear weapons were the “cleaner” option.
The Japanese surrender also saved the lives of the 150,000 Allied POW’s who were to be executed upon Allied landings in Japan.
@@allangibson8494 The idea of Curtis “Bombs Away” LeMay with full, unrestricted access to the US and German chemical weapons stockpile is horrifying.
@@loganb7059 As is the Japanese response of using biological weapons against allied troops (that’s what Unit 731’s purpose was, their “leakages” are still a problem in China).
I think it was intelligence failure of japan too, otherwise most countries are already aware of next potential attack of enemy, wasn't the case here. Glad emperor and top military leaders saved Japan.
I think the officers that refused to join the coup probably did so out of a sense of unwavering loyalty to the Emperor. Despite their personal beliefs may have aligned with the coup. They would NEVER betray their Emperor.
Extremely possible. I think it's also possible that the officers were realists, they knew that continuing to fight would result in Japan's utter destruction after the atomic bombs were dropped. Also the declaration of war from the then U.S.S.R might have factored in. Of course it could very well be a combination of these factors.
Out of the 4 main conspirators, only Masataka Ida survived. After the war, he was court-martialed, but convinced the court that he genuinely tried to stop Major Hanataka at the end, thus acquitting him. He then changed his surname to Iwada and went on to become an advertising executive. He died on February 6, 2004.
I wonder how his opinions formulated and changed (if at all) as the years went by after the war.
@@loganb7059 who knows... but considering that he lived a good life after the war, he probably thought that he did the right thing in opposing Major Hanataka.
@@loganb7059Considering the peace and tremendous economic prosperity Japan saw in the decades after the war, I'm guessing he probably felt validated in his decision to oppose the coup plot. If the coup had succeeded much of the country would have likely been destroyed and Japan's miraculous economic recovery in the 2nd half of the 20th century probably wouldn't have been possible.
He got to see Japan turn truly modern. Crazy .
I've studied history and live in Japan, Nagasaki no less. I never knew about this. Kudos to you and your writing team.
This is why when people say it was 100% the Soviet attack that made Japan surrender and the A-bomb was unnecessary I go, they almost didn't surrender with both.
What was so special at the attack with an atomic bomb? The Japanese Military didn't had a functioning AA Unit. Tokyo and other Cities where already devastated to the same degree. In Tokyo died more people on March 9 and 10 then with the Nuclear Bombs. In my opinion the Japanese were hoping to get a better peace deal with the help of the Soviets, which hope was shattered after they declared war. But you are free to have your own idead of the past, have a nice day :)
@@MeinungenVonMir Because vast majority of people couldn't even imagined a single bomb that can destroy an entire city. It's not how much damage the nukes could do but what America was capable of. Besides, have you even watched the video? The Kyujo incident showed that the Japanese military was not willing to surrender, for as long as the Japanese people in the home islands still existed.
@@imgvillasrc1608 He doesn't care. Bolsheviks can't stop worshiping Russia and its propaganda, whether its about WW2 or about Ukraine.
@@MeinungenVonMir "With the help of the Soviets"🤡 Imperial Japan HATED both Tsarist & Communist Russia. Tsarists & Leftists were both targets in Japan during the 20th century. Both World Powers have had a VERY long history of beefing with each other. LONG before WW2.
The only reason they didn't declare war on each other until 1945 was that they both already had their hands full (which is why the USSR only invaded after the defeat of Nazi Germany & AFTER the nuclear strikes).
Opinions are one thing, facts are another.
Potential history actually did a full video on this. He even pointed out that what might have caused them to surrender was that the nukes and the Soviet invasion all happened in about a week so it might have been just too much to deal with and broke the Japanese spirit as the two worse things happened at the same time
In the alternate history novel _1945_ by the late Robert Conroy, Conroy envisioned a scenario in which War Minister Korechika Anami decided to support the coup and placed Emperor Hirohito under "protective custody". This forced the United States to resort to invading Japan under Operation Downfall which predictably led to heavy losses for both sides. It isn't until Anami himself was assassinated by a group of pro-peace military officers that Japan surrendered to the United States in January 1946.
Thank you for bringing this up. I probably wouldn’t have known about it otherwise. I feel a trip to the library is in order…
I've been wanting to read this book as I enjoy alternate history and from everything I've heard the book is really well done and a completely plausible outcome if the coup had succeeded.
Assassinated by “pro-peace” officers…isn’t that something 😂
I’ve heard brief mentions of this happening but never heard the whole story. Very cool video!
i find it so interesting that the heroic effort to end the war is just as exciting and dramatic as stories from during wars. i feel like there was a movie made about this particular incident as well. they should really do more movies like this, to show it's just as heroic to stop a war.
I would support such a film... so long as it was mostly historically accurate.
The 2012 film 'Emperor' (starring Tommy Lee Jones) touches on the Kyujo Incident. That might be the film that you're thinking of.
@@jacob4920 There are two movies about the whole surrender things. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan's_Longest_Day
Oh my God I was so pumped when I saw this! There’s really not enough longform documentaries about this incident on UA-cam and I’ve always wanted a movie to be made about this. I think it would be really neat to focus on the last few weeks in Japan, at the end of World War II.
Whilst dramatized for the Hollywood affect. The closest film that I can think of, is the 2012 film 'Emperor'. The plot includes the lead up to Japan's surrender (and includes the Kyujo Incident) and the aftermath of Japan's surrender.
There’s a 2015 film called The Emperor in August (日本のいちばん長い日, lit. Japan’s Longest Day) detailing the Kyujou incident and some closely related events. It is very well produced and quite accurate as far as drama movies go. And if you like books better, the movie is largely based on the non-fiction Japan's Longest Day by Hantou Kazutoshi.
Thanks for this video Simon. As a history buff I know that many people didn't even know this actually happened.
Exactly, I absolutely love history, and the number of people even those who teach history in schools that don't know this is mind-boggling. I mean this was the arguably the most pivotal point of the pacific war. If they had been successful then it would have caused almost genocidal battle to end the war.
And it's such a wild story too
@@jeremys.950if they where successful then I don't think Japan would exist anymore
But yeah I'm a history nerd and didn't even knew about this, fascinating
@@jeremys.950 There would have been no battle regardless.
The allies didn't need to invade Japan. They had the islands completely blockaded and could freely bomb them. Japan would have had to surrender eventually.
Same! I didn't know about it either
There is a movie called The Emperor in August (Japanese: 日本のいちばん長い日, literally "Japan's Longest Day") is a Japanese historical drama film directed by Masato Harada. It was released on August 8, 2015. It's a remake of Japan's Longest Day (1967)
really a great movie how the coup was happened until Emperor Hirohito radio broadcast the surrender of Japan.
1:35 - Chapter 1 - War & endgame
6:35 - Chapter 2 - Resistance to capitulation
9:00 - Chapter 3 - The coup
14:00 - Chapter 4 - Aftermath
- Chapter 5 -
- Chapter 6 -
Binge watching these videos is just famtastic. Thanks, Simon and co.
I think if the emperor himself had not explicitly agreed to surrender, more officers would've backed the coup. But since Hirohito had agreed to it, by the warrior code after the Meiji Restoration, any officers who disobeyed him would be performing a terrible dishonor.
One of those American soldiers invading the Japanese mainland would probably have been my late father. Dad served in the Army Air Force in the New Guinea and the Phillipines.
He sounds like a brave man!
@@huwguyver4208 I am glad he did not have to be
Same with my grandfather
My grandfather drove an amphibious tractor in New Guinea. He came home with a sword he had taken off a dead Japanese officer. He would also have been tasked in the invasion of Japan. Instead, he came home, went to college on the GI Bill and became an accountant. His story is hardly unique. Ironically, he didn’t have a drivers license until taught by my grandmother after their marriage.
I literally learned about this the other day and here comes Simon to teach me even more with perfect timing. Amazing
It baffles me how Japanese would willingly destroy their entire country rather than surrender
What would you do if you were taken hostage and you thought that the guy who took you hostage was going to kill you whether you did everything he said or not?
@@zacharyhansen9103 Except the US was not the one who told Japan to invade China and Southeast Asia, nor did the US do anything to have Japan attack pearl harbor (Oh the oil embargo? Well if the Japanese just treated the Chinese like humans and not occupy Indochina, then no, they wouldn't suffer from that).
Tbf, the Japanese people were already war weary and wanted peace, but if their senseis in the military says otherwise, they had to comply.
@@imgvillasrc1608 In my analogy I’m not talking about the war itself but the fear of what would come after the war. The Japanese people had been lead to believe that their enemies were so cruel that it would be better to kill themselves than to be taken prisoner.
@micahistory simple, because the Japanese education back then (approx. 1920s onward) taught them they are the chosen one (atleast in asia-pacific) to lead the asian nation as a big brother. So let's just say you got indoctrinated for 20+ years of this propaganda and suddenly your emperor told you to stop fighting?! Yeah that's why they did what you previously described.
I think that a lot of Japanese citizens, even back then, were well aware, especially after Hiroshima and Nagasaki, that continuing to resist the United States and Russia would result only in the death of their land. I think that's why so many officers turned down the requests of the conspirators. As zealous as they were for Japanese glory, they also were REALISTS. And realists know when to stop kicking and screaming, especially against all odds.
Especially cause the militarists whole strategy literally revolved around keeping the USSR out of the war. Despite the fact that it went to the sky falling within a span of a week, Once the soviets got involved in a situation it became completely absurd
*Soviet Union
I was under the impression that the government clamped down on all information distribution so the Japanese people didn't "know" what was actually occurring
@@toonlink1723I mean, yes and no. The Soviets joining was a pisser for sure, but they had no significant naval presence in the pacific, limited air power in the region, and no aircraft carriers *at all.* So there was no realistic possibility of them invading the mainland. And even if they built up the means, it wouldn't have changed the calculus: sacrifice millions or even tens of millions in glorious defense of the homeland to make the Allies bleed so badly they offered better terms to make it stop.
What DID change the calculus was when it became clear (to them) that the Allies could, if they so desired, systematically glass every single city and town on the island with the same air power that would usually accomplish the destruction of just a single city, all without setting foot on the island.
And it's hard to muster up enthusiasm for "glorious defense" when that defense involves being vaporized with no means of even fighting back.
That record was the most important, real life Macguffin in History.
Some people just don't know when to quit.
"I have nothing to regret now that the dark clouds have disappeared from the reign of the Emperor." -- Kenji Hatanaka death poem
Oooh I'm so happy to see Simon covering this event. Well done as always man!
I saw a documentary about this incident on the History Channel years ago. It was called "The Last Mission". What's most interesting about that documentary was it told the stories of Americans in B-29s and a Japanese colonel who told of the incident. The documentary keeps you on the edge of your seat while also telling the story of both sides.
I don't recall the name but this incident is covered by a Japanese film, I doubt the coup ever had enough support to succeed but it is a fascinating episode. If this area of history interests you I recommend the Pacific War Channel.
It's called 'The Emperor in August/Japans Longest Day' from 2015. A remake of a 1967 film.
@@threestepssideways1202 many thanks, have only seen the recent one which I enjoyed immensely.
Even with the Empires broadcast many Japanese wanted to fight
And officers had a tough time controlling them
At least one suicide plane took off and hit a Ship
@@tomhenry897 I don't think the idea that any significant part of the armed forces wanting to fight is backed by a single suicide. There were holdouts but the number was tiny, especially as a proportion of those still under arms, and in a few colonies Japanese troops helped colonial forces maintain order after the surrender.
Planes had to be disabled and put under trusted guards
The army was at near mutiny when told to put down their arms
We had to keep the empire so not to set off the army
Which is why Japan was punished less then Germany
History tends to view the ending of WW2 occuring with German surrender when in fact it didn't end untill Japan was dealt with.
Japan was by far the most tenacious axis power in the war with their cultural beliefs that surrender brought dishonor and shame.
There are accounts of Japanese troops commiting suicide and killing their own when a battle defeat was imminent ( Aleutian Islands battle vs US and Canada)
What's even more telling is that, unlike the Germans, the Japanese in the end actually still held vast swathes of territory and would fight for them tooth and nail even if cut off from supplies.
There's a little known Can-American movie called Power Play about a group of officers in an unnamed European cold War era country planning and executing a Coup-d'etat that was based entirely on a book entitled Coup D'etat: a practical guide to overthrowing a country. Highly underrated, extremely good movie
I'm learning so much on this channel 👏
It's a little known fact that the US had a third atomic bomb ready to be dropped as early as August 18th if the order had been given, and was prepared to manufacture a new A-bomb 'every ten days' after that. Truman was not bluffing when he promised 'prompt and utter destruction'. If everything had gone according to plan, by the planning date for the invasion of Kyushu on November 1, 1945, seven more bombs would have been ready. By March 1, 1946, the planning date for the invasion of Tokyo, a total of 22 bombs would have been used or ready for use. Search for "The USA had a Top Secret plan to make a new atomic bomb 'every ten days' in 1945" to read an article with that title for more details.
Well, that's alleged, but in truth there was no plan, firm or otherwise, after the first two were released. While it was plausible there'd have been a 3d available in mid- to late August, deployment would've taken about as long as the first two did, which puts the drop timetable into mid-September, at the earliest. And the plans for a Japanese invasion (Operation Downfall) went out the proverbial window once atomic bombs entered the picture - no one had planned for Olympic, or Coronet, as anything more than a massive, conventional assault. They literally didn't know how to incorporate nuclear weapons into a battle plan at the time, and as it turned out they didn't have sufficient time to even contemplate it where Japan was concerned.
@@mactheknife7049 Did you actually search for and read the article I wrote?
Here are a few quotes:
"S There's one ready to be shipped - waiting on order right now.
H If the order is given now, when can it be ready?
S Thursday would be its readiness; the 19th it would be dropped."
That's August 19, 1945. If Truman had ordered it to be used immediately, then it would have been dropped at least one day earlier, August 18.
"The discussion then moves on to the topic of tactical use rather than strategic use of the nuclear weapons.
H That is the information I wanted. The problem now is whether or not, assuming the Japanese do not capitulate, continue on dropping them every time one is made and shipped out there or whether to hold them up as far as the dropping is concerned and then pour them all on in a reasonably short time. Not all in one day, but over a short period. And that also takes into consideration the target that we are after. In other words should we not concentrate on targets that will be of the greatest assistance to an invasion rather than industry, morale, psychology, etc.
S Nearer the tactical use rather than other use."
'H' is General John E. Hull, the assistant chief of staff for the War Department's Operations Division. 'S' is Colonel L. E. Seeman, a top aide to General Leslie Groves, the military leader of the Manhattan Project. The date of their telephone call is August 13, 1945.
They were discussing the tactical use of nuclear weapons.
@@Ensign_Nemo No. I listened to my late uncle, who would regale us with stories about his time in the Truman White House, in the room when this stuff was being talked about. I'll take his first-hand account over some book.
Damn, american war manufacturers are insane when the war time comes
@@mactheknife7049 The third bomb casing was on Tinian. The fission core was on route to Tinian (in San Francisco).
A nuclear strike was certainly possible by the 20th.
That is the historical record.
The invasion of Japan was scheduled for November 1945 and included a dozen nuclear weapons being used on the beaches.
November is when the weather is most suitable for landings on Kyushu.
Nobody called this the Kyujo Coup? No-one? Fucking criminal that
I mean, the conflict with the IRA could have been called The Northern Ireland Conflict but the Irish and Brits chose The Troubles instead.
Side note, of questionable relevance: "kyujo" is the term used in Japanese sumo when a wrestler withdraws from a tournament due to illness or injury.
I love everything this channel produces. Especially the art of war series. Please keep doing more of all your content!
As I recall, there actually WAS an air raid during the coup, which directly, (albeit unwittingly) led to its collapse.
The fact that the United States is still awarding purple hearts that were made in anticipation of the invasion of the Japanese home islands should tell anybody how many lives were saved by Japan surrender.
More like saved by the bombs. It baffles me that people think they were unnecessary. I guess semantics are worth more than the millions of lives that were saved, because nukes bad.
Ok I swear my phone can read what I am because I’m literally reading about emperor Hirohito and this drops
It's worth noting that in declassified documents the Americans didn't think the Japanese would surrender just from the two atomic bombings and so were preparing to drop a third on August 19 (and only finally cancelled it upon the beginning of the Occupation of Japan on September 2nd after the formal surrender), thinking as many as 8-10 detonations could be necessary in the lead up to Operation Downfall. Even then the Americans were considering using atomic warheads for tactical strikes during the invasion. As has been mentioned below there are several good alternate history books on what could have happened if the coup had succeeded, including using some of the 100,000 Allied POWs Japan held as shields in urban areas to dissuade the use of further atomic bombings.
I saw a documentary which claimed that an American B-29 bombing raid near the Japanese Emperor's palace distracted the Samurai coupe planers long enough for the emperor's loyal subjects to get to a radio transmitter long enough to broadcast the emperor's pre-recorded surrender message.
I think the documentary was by National Geographic.
If only this men knew how would Japan turn out to be in just a few years, Japan became one of the most powerful and influential nation in the world not by military actions but through trade and the media
This, people meme about how modern Japan is a weak nation because of anime and pacifism when they have influenced many nations in the world only through soft power.
What "weak" modern Japan could do, "strong" Imperial Japan could have only dreamt off.
@@imgvillasrc1608not to mention how wealthy being peaceful has made many Japanese elites
Still though, doubt they'd care.
It's not an empire, and admittedly is rather beholden to foreign influence.
Their pride would never allow them to accept it
All thanks to fighting men (like my great grandfather) of the US Marines.
@@imgvillasrc1608 You do know that they still rely on us, the US, to help them military. Hell, I will even add for the weebs, Japan itself, the average person, does not give a shit about anime.
Would love a video on the Vietnamese Cambodian war
Or the Chinese Vietnamese war as a result of that.
You guys read my mind. I just found out about this “footnote” of history a month ago, and I was immediately struck by how haunting and tragically futile Hatanaka’s coup was. He was a fanatic, but in a way I pity his midnight attempt to avert the inevitable and his desperate hope that he could justify his life in its final moments. He’s a shadow of a world that could not survive. It also reminds me of Mishima’s mad demonstration a few decades later.
Do not pity the man, for if he had succeeded, millions would have suffered.
@@aaronlaughter6471 I fear that I wasn't clear. I pity the MAN, not his objective. I am grateful that he failed.
Somehow I never even heard of this, thanks for this knowledge
'Kamikaze' (Devine Wind) were suicide airplanes, the suicide torpedos/submarines were known as 'Kaiten' (Turning the Heavens).
While the submarines were indeed called Kaiten, Kamikaze is the name of the airstrike _unit_. Various aircrafts were used for the purpose, and those specifically built for the purpose were actually called Ohka (Cheery Blossom).
I had never heard of this before
It’s not the best book out there but the alternate history novel “1945” by Robert Conroy picks up where this coup is actually successful and is kind of a fun thought experiment for those interested especially since the US at the time didn’t have the ability to quickly crank out nukes but would take time and in the book further nuclear attacks are dissuaded from use due to the use of military POW as hostages and human shields at important military targets… like I said, not the best book but it is interesting to read how it might have played out
Great video as always, Simon.
I remember reading an AltHist story where Japan did not surrender, but rather than invade, the Allies ended up using Japan as a testing ground for new weapons, effectively reducing the archipelago to a Stone Age wasteland. That was a possible outcome if Japan had not surrendered.
Another factor that made Japan think it could get a negotiated peace was Winston Churchill's dismissal from the prime ministership and replacement by someone they assumed was less hawkish. They were wrong about that, but by the time they realized their mistake, it was too late.
Some out there still think that the Soviet Union's invasion of Manchuria was the reason as to why Japan surrendered to the Allied powers, but look toward Hirohito's speech. Not once does he mention the Soviet Union nor does he mention communism, but he does, however, mention the atomic bombs.
Couple this with the fact that the Japanese Empire was teaching women and children how to sharpen sticks into spears and how to make bombs out of homemade pottery.
Plus Japan knew that the Soviet Union had hardly any naval power to speak of, but America and Britain did.
And lastly look toward "Operation Downfall". Purple Heart medals are still being issued to this day that were made in preparation for the invasion of the Japanese home isle.
It was the atomic bombs that subdued a fanatical empire of zealous leaders into a democratic nation that still stands strong to this day.
Then Japan used their ultimate weapon on the world...Anime!
Ah keep the Japanese content coming. Pacific needs more coverage
To The Bitter End.
Just how epic is Simons beard becoming?
I don't know why but i really wanna comb it 😅
I remember doing a semester long report for a WW2 class for high school about this event. I remember doing well in it.
They look like very happy, well-adjusted guys.
That is the importance of the phrase "Everything happens for a reason...." Very well put Simon, Good on you mate!!
There was a film made about this. The Emperor in August.
This should be made into a movie....
in the same line as this you should do a video on what the invasion of Japan would be like if they hadn't surrendered
I think he did on one of his other channels.
Soviets were prepared to invade northern Japan after they had seized the Kuril islands and the Americans would have invaded southern Japan
I like to think that if they hadn't surrendered after 2 nukes, we'd have gone with the real WMD: Bat bombs. This proposal made it to FDR because the madman that came up with it knew Eleanor personally. He ended up loving the idea, so he ordered the military to look into it. Fast forward past a hilarious incident of them accidently burning down an airfield and the Marines are testing this under the name Operation Xray where they found bat bombs to be about x12 as effective as a regular incendiary bombs since the bats get into every nook and cranny of a given area before the timers on the bombs go off. Since the deadliest bombing run ever was when the US firebombed Japan, killing more than Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined, I'd bet on them letting that Marine general have his way if they kept going to spare the radiation.
The guy who suggested that kind of bomb was Dr. Lytle S. Adams, who was a dental surgeon from Irwin, Pennsylvania.
Hey Simon, doubt you will see this but, there is a book, "In the realm of a dying Emperor" I think you would really enjoy
I dont think most Americans think ww2 started when we entered lol
I think you'd be surprised by how many don't. I know people that never knew we fought Chinese troops in Korea,
@@weirdshibainu you have a point. I knew a foom full of people that didnt know what D.C. stood for in Washington D.C. When I answered the question correctly, the entire room looked at me in surprise. I looked back in surprise lol
@@judastheman I bet and many of them probably thought D.C. was a state. Here's a mind warp-I did a trivia night about 3 weeks ago. The second question was " Name the three branches of Government." Out of 14 teams, 9 got the wrong answer.
Brilliant video
The real question is: what would anime be like today if Japan didn't surrender?
We would be without that crap
I imagine it would look more cynical than it is today (RIP Bocchi the Rock)
We wouldn't have the animes we have today due to the amount of the ancestors of the people who wrote those stories dying
great subject about which i knew zero-zip until now
I remembered this being the focus of a documentary I think called the last mission.
Oh sweet something I asked for. I mean, it was a big even in Japan during wwII so I mean they would have got to it eventually.
Anyone who says that japan shouldnt have been nuked at the end of world war 2, does not know history or anything about japanese culture of the time
Soviet invasion of Japanese occupied Manchuria contributed more towards Japanese surrender than the American nuking of Japanese civilians ever did
If you only know about Japan and her actions in the Pacific War with the Allies, this event would surprise you.
If you have dug into Japan's interwar actions, internal politics, and swing to right wing extremism nationalism in the late 1920s and early 1930s, how the Army did as it pleased to the point of starting wars on its own... This event would not surprise you.
The military was pushing hard nationalism, right wing ideals in the interwar years. It got to a point where in 1932, military officers assassinated the Prime Minister of Japan. This was called "The May 15 Incident." You should read into that. More will follow as these right wing extremists carried out more assassinations to further their agenda.
So Melancholic
Walking Around Passing Out Pamphlets Post Imperial Palace Seizure
I am so glad people are finally exposing the Japanese during WW2, I hope to god people will finally shut about about the bombs, and realize they saved more Japanese, American, and Russian lives then a outright invasion.
Uh, the US is still occupying Japan, they currently maintain 7 bases, close to 4000 acres of land.
That's not exactly an occupatio, the japanese government could kick them out If they wanted to do so...
“That clarification didn’t come by written correspondence. It came via the Enola Gay.”
*Homer Simpson “DOH!!” *
Crazy the level of authority that the Japanese general had to just let the rebels go free to explain themselves with leaflets and then to take their their own lives. The shame culture is not to be underestimated.
If this succeeded, it wouldn't have been a fight to the last, it would have just been a 3rd, 4th or even a 5th bomb.
They would have had to invade at some point. Likely the invasion would have been carried out on all sides by the USA, the British, the Chinese, and the Soviet Union. Japan would have been divided like Germany was during the Cold War.
@@zacharyhansen9103 They probably wouldn't though, Nimitz' plan just made too much sense and was convenient. Why sacrifice hundreds of thousands of army and marine boys to their deaths when the Navy and air forces could just blockade and bomb the crap out of Japan until they surrender? Sure, it'll be slow, but they'll surrender eventually.
For a deeper dive on this I suggest reading "The Last Mission" by Jim Smith and Malcolm McConnell. It follows the movement and politics on both sides during this time period.
What was the most important event resulting in Japan’s unconditional surrender? The atomic bombs (as usually taught in history classes, at least here in the US) or the Soviet Union’s invasion of Manchuria?
I was of the opinion it was actually the latter, that Japan hoped to broker a better deal through the Soviet Union, but after their entry into the Pacific Theater the Japanese were officially out of options.
It was by far the former. The Soviets could only threaten Manchuria, which had already been long cut off and useless to the mainland. Russia had no hope of staging a potential landing on the mainland, at best being able to drop more conventional bombs but that wasn't a real change of status quo. It may have taken away their hopes of a favorable surrender with them, but they were already planning to bleed America into accepting a conditional surrender so it wasn't the last option they had.
Nuclear bombing took away that last option. A single plane flying out of reach of anti-air could now destroy a city. Attrition warfare became obsolete overnight. That took away their last option
@@ramadansteve1715 there’s definitely a psychological aspect to a single plane dropping a single bomb to destroy a city, but is the ground reality substantially different than 300 planes doing equal or greater damage over two nights? (Operation Meetinghouse)
I’ve heard some outlier arguments (from Ward Wilson and Oliver Stone for instance) that is less embarrassing for the Japanese to claim they were forced to surrender by the atomic bomb rather than Soviet intervention. I’m not sure how to find the definitive answer.
@@CaffeineAndMylanta Even on a tactical/strategic level, it changed the entire calculus of the war
With conventional bombing, you need hundreds of planes flying low to maybe land one or two hits on your target. This opens them up to AA defense, and regardless of how much damage is done to the city they could always point to the dozen or so downed planes and say "look, we're continuing to bleed the enemy"
Nuclear bombing changed that. Now one plane could destroy a city, and since accuracy isn't much of an issue they could fly far above the range of anti-air. There's no longer any attrition, no downed planes, no enemy blood spilled. It gave the US the ability to target all of Japan with complete impunity, with no possible way for Japan to defend itself
Beyond the sheer shock value, it changed the game entirely from a war planning perspective and rendered Japan's only remaining plans obsolete. There was no defense to be waged anymore, just the choice between surrender and starving while incomprehensibly deadly bombs destroy every city you know one by one
@@ramadansteve1715 I see. Thank you for your perspective.
@@CaffeineAndMylanta It has to be the US Atom Bombs. The USSR never had any ability to threaten the main islands, and could only destroy Japanese forces in the continental Asian landmass. It was only the US that had that capability, and it was they who, as far as they knew, had these mega bombs that they could lob at Japan ad naseum.
The fact that Japan could no longer bleed the Americans out in a long attrition war for a better deal was likely the only reason the Japanese contemplated surrender at all.
Use Ecosia they are a search engine that plants trees
This is why when people argue the use of the atomic bombs were just a war crime and a message to the USSR, I always tell them about this. They almost always get angry and either walk away or keep repeating the same thing over and over.
It was American revenge for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour just like how the internment of Japanese-Americans was the revenge for the Pearl Harbour
I guess I've never fully realised how RISKY it was for the Emperor to order his generals to just lay down their arms.
10:39 The jukebox revolution
Just imagine if Anami changed his mind...
I remember watching a short clip where some soldiers literally rallied to Hirohito and wanted to attack him or something...
I do wonder why, when you're speaking of Japanese forces you show a picture of what I'm pretty sure is a bunch of Gurkhas (7.40).
Disturbing that this easily could've succeeded.
Orchestrating a coup in defeated imperial Japan is a daunting task, requiring an intricate knowledge of the chain of command as officers commit suicide left and right.
Look up 1960s version _Japan’s Longest Day_ to see a Japanese cinema film recreation of the Kyujo Incident.
The trailer doesn’t do justice to the famous film.
I read the emperor's speech was in an archaic palace form of the language and many people couldn't understand him. It had to be translated for them.
My great uncle was part of the Australian contingent of the occupational forces immediately after their surrender..... stayed for nearly 25 years ... used to say for the first five years he'd get spat on by civilians regularly
ugh, i accidentally fell into another simon whistler video...
There’s a whole feature-length movie about this very subject. This should not come as a shock to any one interested in World War II history
My friends I am here again to ask that Warographics also be put out as a podcast
Title should be the coup that almost made Japan be bombed back into the Meiji period.
didnt know this, whow.
Talk about a new perspective on history...
People often think that if the Allies had to attack the Japanese main islands that they would have done so right away, but I doubt they would have been that stupid after several years of war to develop strategy. It would be far more likely that a situation of siege warfare would begin where the islands cut off and travel between them for Japanese would be impossible. Weeks and months of bombing of food sources and distribution points would go on. With limited numbers of nuclear weapons available, the firebombing of the main cities would be done, razing every population center over 10k people. After several months of this it would be impossible for the “millions” of defenders often cited to even raise a finger of defiance. The military would have to brutalize the civilian population for resources and the resulting possibility of civilian revolts would be large. The war could have dragged on until maybe the end of 1946, but there would be no one left on the Japanese side to defend agains Allied invaders once the siege became full on invasion.
War would have been over even without the use of nuclear weapons after the Soviets joined the war against Japan
The story is detailed in both The Sun and Emperor films.
Geez! Someone make a movie about this. These militants searching around catacombs for hidden recordings against the clock with the stakes sky high. Intense stuff.
Too bad you already did Operation Downfall on Megaprojects. Would have made for a nice follow-up for this one.
Honestly, I'd watch this movie.
The pressured Emperor who started a war because of their need for resources and desire to be a bigger player on the world stage. Now, seeing the costs of war and the devastation it had on his people, wanted to end the war. But, despite their losses. he's urged to keep going by greedy generals. Gearing up to fight land battles on their native soil, regretting the need to conscript civilians, they are surprised and devastated by the bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That's it, he knows that they cannot win against +that+, and he is ready to surrender.
Then the coup, an obsessed general determined to keep the war going, damn the costs to the people tries to stage an uprising. He is tricked and fought off by the imperial guards. The Emperor's surrender, triumphant in defeat, makes history. Despite the apparent doom of their nation, Japan is still the Land of the Rising Sun, and they still go on to become a world power, not through war, but through hard work and creativity.