The emperor was a divine figure in Japanese culture. America knew Japan would not surrender without a guarantee of the the emperor’s surviving, which was correct, and so one of Truman’s Advisors (I can’t recall whom off the top of my head) suggested that America place the condition on Japan that their surrender would involve the Emperor instructing the people to cease fighting and cooperate. That way Japan got to keep the Emperor, America got to use his divine word to cease hostilities, and neither side would have to fight a bloody invasion. I’d actually highly recommend a YT video called “Dropping the Bomb” by Shaun if you have a spare two and a half hours and a heavy interest in the subject, as it has a great timeline of the final weeks of the war and shows, as best we can, what all the major players were thinking at the time.
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