Chapter 11: The Role of Morale in Japan's Surrender

A lot of the important people in the war realized that the end was near.

From a Japanese report.

More from the report.

The peace group dominated.

Public opinion was limited due to historical factors in Japanese culture.

The bureaucracy was basically insensitive to public opinion.

The government figured that popular support for their actions was a given.

The branches and groups of the government didn't necessarily work or communicate with each other.

Tojo didn't listen to anything about what the people wanted.

The government figured the war would be short and public opinion wouldn't be a factor.

The Japanese government didn't have the means to measure public opinion anyhow.

The Cabinet didn't really get involved much with home front propaganda.

The peace group in Japan was not working for the public; it was working to find a way to have peace but still maintain they special rich privileges.

Information backing this up.

They wanted the Emperor system and privileges to be kept.

Others have even more demands for a peace settlement.

The military of Japan might have had some concern about how much the people would support them if there was a full-scale invasion of Japan itself.

Why public opinion was usually ignored.

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