"The Japanese were already sending out feelers to negotiate an end to the war and the only real sticking point was their fear of what might happen to the emperor if they were to surrender (given that he was considered a divine figure by the Japanese)."

The fear of losing their devine emperor .... conditional or uncondtional they could have called the end to the carnage by just surrendering ... and there were those (in Japan) who just wanted to do just that ... and many who questioned the whole aura of the the emperor ... Hirohito was the individual who enthusiastically put the final stamp to go to war in the first place even after being advised that in most certainties they would lose the war in the long run.

The divine Hirohito was quite frankly nothing but war criminal.

IMHO unconditional or conditional surrender is completely irrevelant when being applied to the insanity of war.

biLL