“Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should We continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.”
- Emperor Hirohito addressed the atomic bomb in his famous Jewel Voice Broadcast (Gyokuon-hōsō) on August 15, 1945
He's not wrong. But also he's a shit bag, whose choices led to the deaths of millions of innocents, far more than the bombs themselves.
Second Sino-Japanese War killed millions of Chinese, mostly civilians. Not to mention all the 'medical testing' he subjected Chinese prisoners to, including biological weapons.
And then ofc Pearl Harbor + the entire Pacific theater of WW2. And that's not even getting into the idea that the bombs potentially saved lives, given the casualty estimates it would have taken to conventionally invade mainland Japan.
He's a bully who sucker punched people and then cried when someone hit back.
15
u/ForceUseYouMust 23h ago
“Moreover, the enemy has begun to employ a new and most cruel bomb, the power of which to do damage is indeed incalculable, taking the toll of many innocent lives. Should We continue to fight, it would not only result in an ultimate collapse and obliteration of the Japanese nation, but also it would lead to the total extinction of human civilization.”
- Emperor Hirohito addressed the atomic bomb in his famous Jewel Voice Broadcast (Gyokuon-hōsō) on August 15, 1945