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How Did Hirohito Make The Right Decisions

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In 1945, Emperor Shōwa Hirohito was the Emperor of Japan, and he was faced with a decision to decide his country's survival. The Japanese were losing to the Allies who were inching closer to Japan everyday. Then the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, killing thousands of people. The big six leaders in Japan assessed the situation and still refused to surrender. The three politicians wanted to surrender, but the three military leaders wouldn’t accept. They feared unconditional defeat because in Japanese society it was a disgrace to surrender. Hearing this, the U.S. responded with dropping a second bomb on Nagasaki, killing even more people. Emperor Hirohito made the decision to surrender ultimately saving his country …show more content…

While some may believe that accepting unconditional surrender was not the best decision, Emperor Hirohito stayed true to his people, and followed through on his nation responsibility. Yohko Kuwabara, one of the Hiroshima survivors, witnessed the bombing and the after effects of the atomic bomb. “‘I stood there dumbfounded… I heard children crying, buildings collapsing, men and women screaming, said Yohko Kuwabara.’ Of the 76,000 buildings that had stood two days before, 70,000 were completely destroyed.” This shows what could’ve happened to all of Japan if the Emperor didn’t surrender. All of Japan would have collapsed with everyone dying from explosions, radiation, and shelterless because all the cities would be destroyed. The Japanese wouldn’t have been able to recover if more bombs were dropped because they didn’t surrender. Many Japanese at the time still believed they should die fighting because it was a disgrace to surrender or be taken prisoner. In addition, after Hirohito realized how much his people would suffer from the bomb he said, “I cannot endure the thought of letting my people suffer any longer.” Being the Emperor of Japan, Hirohito had a responsibility to keep his people safe. Once the bombs were dropped, he realized he needed to stop fighting and surrender to save his people from more atomic bombs being

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