15–26 August 1945
Tokyo, Japan
Kokutai. With the A-bombs and the Soviet invasion of Mongolia, the Kuriles, and Karafuto, indecision became rampant in Emperor Hirohito’s officer corps and cabinet. Some urged fighting to the last man; others agreed that the end was near, if not upon them, and urged cooperation. Finally the emperor stepped in and influenced his government to accept the surrender terms of the Potsdam Declaration. He won acceptance on 14 August, and on 15 August Hirohito’s recorded voice was played over radio station NHK for his subjects and the world to hear. It was an extraordinary measure. No one outside Hirohito’s inner circle had ever before heard his voice. But he wanted his subjects to hear the message of surrender directly from him in order to emphasize his acceptance of it.
Near hysteria gripped the nation afterward. Rebels, mostly young officers, hatched implausible plots to take over the government and direct Japan back to fighting to the last man. Either from bushido pride or outright devotion to their emperor, many of the officer corps committed suicide. The most notable suicide took place on 15 August, the day of the emperor’s broadcast. Popular Vice Admiral Matome Ugaki, once Admiral Yamamoto’s chief of staff, took off in a B5N single-engine torpedo bomber to attack the American fleet off Okinawa. He left behind a suicide message that said “I alone am to blame for our failure to defend the homeland and destroy the arrogant enemy. . . . Long live His Imperial Majesty the Emperor!” Ugaki’s plane disappeared to the southeast and was never seen again.
That evening, Admiral Takijiro Onishi, founder of the kamikaze corps, committed seppuku in the classic style at home. He penned a haiku just before he raised the dagger: “Refreshed, I feel like the clear moon after a storm.”
There were several revolts in the palace itself, many of them led by overzealous officers of the rank of major and below. Gunfire broke out. Emperor Hirohito and his family were sometimes forced to take refuge in their underground bunker. At one time a fire was set. But with great skill, Hirohito’s chamberlains, army and navy loyalists, and in some cases the dreaded Kempetai put down the revolts.
Smaller revolts continued outside the palace over the next few days. A glaring example occurred on the afternoon of 22 August when ten young men wearing white hachimaki headbands occupied Tokyo’s Atago Hill, which lay within sight of the boarded-up American embassy. They called themselves the Sonjo Gigun—the Righteous Group for Upholding Imperial Rule and Driving out Foreigners. In pouring rain they linked arms against approaching police while singing the national anthem. Suddenly they shouted, “Tenno heika banzai!” and detonated the hand grenades they had been carrying. The men lay dead, their epitaph written on a suicide note that read, “The cicada rain falls in vain on defeated hills and streams.”
Another insurrection roiled up at Atsugi Airfield, southwest of Tokyo, where General MacArthur was soon scheduled to land and assume his new role as supreme commander. Led by navy captain Ammyo Kosono, the revolt went on for several days to the sounds of “Gunkan Kaigun,” the Imperial Navy’s marching song. Kosono’s airplanes showered Tokyo with leaflets inciting revolution until loyalist troops arrived from Tokyo and put down the rebellion by force of arms. Several people were killed on both sides. When finally captured, Kosono was completely crazed; he had to be wrestled down and carried off in a straitjacket. With that, all aircraft at Atsugi were defueled, and their propellers were removed to ensure no one as demented as Kosono could again defy the emperor’s wishes.
General MacArthur set a positive tone in the way his staff treated the Japanese emissaries at the Manila meetings of 19–21 August. The Japanese were astounded at the Americans’ fair and polite treatment and grateful for the fine food and lodging—luxuries they hadn’t enjoyed for a long time. The swift series of meetings went well, and over a short period the Japanese revealed the disposition of all troops and ships; the location of airfields and naval bases, including those set up for deadly kaiten midget submarine raids; and ammunition dumps and minefields. First and foremost was the identification of all POW camps and methods to get food and medicine to the prisoners and ways to secure their immediate release.
MacArthur’s top priority was to conduct a surrender ceremony on board a U.S. Navy ship in Tokyo Bay in hopes that a peace treaty would soon follow. Indeed, American statesmanship, beginning with the Potsdam Declaration, specified that cordial relations must be established with the Japanese in order to bring them back as responsible partners to a peaceful and productive family of nations.
But the outside world, especially the Western world, didn’t realize that endemic in the Japanese psyche at all levels was the preservation of kokutai, their national essence. With everything lost, that is what they were fighting for; that is all that remained. With kokutai in place, they would be tractable. But kokutai was possible only if Emperor Hirohito remained on his throne.
General Douglas MacArthur was one of the few Westerners who realized the significance of kokutai. He intended to play it to his advantage by protecting Emperor Hirohito because he knew the rewards would be boundless. To do that, he needed to get to Japan quickly. In the meantime, Emperor Hirohito had his hands full.
General MacArthur and General Sutherland originally planned to occupy Japan on 26 August. Admiral Halsey’s enormous Third Fleet was en route to Tokyo Bay when a typhoon began brewing across its path. Having learned his lesson with two previous typhoons, Halsey decided to stand clear and wait it out. The occupation of Japan was delayed. Some viewed this as a blessing because it gave the “hotheads” in Japan more time to cool down.
By 26 August near panic had seized Japan. The Soviets still rattled their sabers on Karafuto and threatened invasion. Rumors abounded. There were reports of Chinese forces landing in Osaka. Elsewhere, thousands of American soldiers were rumored to be raping women and looting in Yokohama. Women were told, “Don’t go out in the evening. Hide all your valuables such as watches and rings. If rape is attempted, don’t yield; show dignity and cry out for help if at all possible.”
Word spread quickly when Oxford-trained General Shizuichi Tanaka, wearing full uniform, shot himself at his desk. A man of culture and discipline, Tanaka took responsibility for lives lost in the Tokyo firebombing raids and for the burning of the Imperial Palace.
The night passed uneasily but quietly.
Kokutai.