Soviet plans to invade Japan in September 1945 were disclosed only within the past few years, after the fall of the Soviet Union. The earliest that a US/British invasion could have taken place was in October. At the very least, Japan would have ended up divided, like Korea, into a Communist north and a non-Communist south.

Nobody knew how long the Japanese nation would have held out, fighting tooth and nail, against any Allied invasion. According to the bushido code, death (including suicide) was *always* preferable to defeat (one reason why the Japanese held Allied POWs in such contempt). This applied to civilians as well as to soldiers.

As cruel as they were, the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki may well have cost fewer Japanese lives than any invasion of Japan.

Ending the war when he did, against the wishes of many of his generals and advisors, was a courageous personal act for an Emperor who was also willing, under the Surrender terms, to renounce the ancient claim that that he was a god, descended directly from the Rising Sun.

Emperor Hirohito had done nothing to prevent his army, navy, and air force from committing some of the worst atrocities in history against the peoples of China, Indochina, modern Malaysia, modern Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines. When he broadcast news of his intention to surrender, it was the first time the Japanese people had ever heard his voice. He was driven to surrender, he said, correctly, "in order to prevent the complete destruction of the nation of Japan."

It is hard to imagine any nation (or leader) on earth that would have refrained from using any available weapon to end World War II to its advantage as quickly as possible.