this post was submitted on 19 Aug 2024
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If you're TRULY interested in a deep and nuanced take on this topic, here's a fantastic podcast on the topic that is MANY hours long. Personally, I don't see any better alternatives to the bombs to end the war quickly or to spare lives. And, as Dan Carlin explains, the Japanese have only themselves to blame for the perceptions of their people about Americans and the perspectives of Americans about them.
https://www.dancarlin.com/product/hardcore-history-62-supernova-in-the-east-i/
That puts you at odds with Curtis LeMay, who wanted to drop every bomb ever made. Even he said the atomic bombings weren't necessary.
I've listened to that podcast and Carlin's previous one about the decision to drop the bomb. I don't really recall Carlin saying that. Tbf Supernova in the East was massive so it's possible I don't remember the section you're talking about.
This is how I remember his series on the Japanese involvement in WWII:
Carlin talked about the Japanese military leaving gruesome "messages" (through terribly mutilated corpses of American soldier) to Americans, which in turn led Americans to take fewer POWs and also ramp up the violence. Additionally, this led to fewer Americans units who may have otherwise surrendered as POWs to continue fighting even if it meant they would all die; they were terrified to be captured. The Japanese military also knew what effect this must have on the Americans, and as a result would refuse to surrender in fear of similar treatment / reprisal.
Japanese soldiers would report this back home to their families. Combined with the propaganda civilians received from their government and the stories from the front, many people believed that when the Americans landed in Japan, that the soldiers would eat their children. It was because of this sentiment it was believed that the Japanese populace would never surrender, and the fighting on the Japanese islands would require killing far more people as the invasion progressed northward.
It is to be noted I am not a historian, and I'm just someone who listened to a really long podcast a couple years ago. He's more of an "historian" than I am, and he seemed pretty credible to me. I have done no other reading or research on the topic, and I probably shouldn't have commented here to begin with.