information about Fukushima published in English in Japanese media info publiée en anglais dans la presse japonaise
5 Août 2015
August 5, 2015
LONDON – I first visited Hiroshima one year after the atomic bomb. I shall never forget the devastation that I saw then, nor the horrors, which have been preserved in the Peace Memorial Museum.
I look back with sorrow and sympathy for all those who suffered in the air raids, which destroyed the cities and towns of Japan, especially in the fire bombing raids on Tokyo in March 1945 and in the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Japanese, however, need to bear in mind that if the Nazis or the Japanese military had plumbed the secrets of creating a bomb they would not have hesitated to use such a terrible weapon against the Allies. They should also not forget that Japan’s sufferings were largely preceded by saturation bombing of cities in China, not least against Chongqing in May 1939.
Nor can we Europeans fail to remember the horrors and casualties caused by the bombing of European cities. The Nazis attempted to destroy London in 1940 and 1941. The saturation bombing attack by German aircraft on Coventry in 1940 lasted 10 hours and destroyed the city center and the cathedral, causing numerous civilian casualties. The Nazis bombed indiscriminately other British cities and attempted to destroy the British economy and will to resist. Toward the end of the war in Europe they launched indiscriminate attacks on southern England by launching the V1 flying bombs and the V2 rockets, which were the first two of the secret weapons they were developing.
The British, the Americans and the Russians retaliated with devastating attacks on German cities. Hamburg, Berlin and Dresden were among the many German cities, which suffered appalling destruction and casualties. It is at least debatable whether the Allied bombing campaigns, despite all the loss of life entailed, shortened the war.
Ever since 1945 I have debated with myself and with others whether the use of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki was justified. I am glad that the decision whether or not to use the bombs did not rest with me. I do not accept that the use of the bombs turned Japan from aggressor into victim. The victims were all those who suffered on both sides in the conflict.
By early 1945 it was clear to Konoe Fumimaro that Japan had no hope of winning the war. Yet it took his erstwhile colleagues eight months until they were forced by facts (one of which was the atom bomb) that Japan had lost a war, which many knew from the beginning was unwinnable.
These cowardly, stupid and criminally irresponsible people lacked the moral courage to admit the truth and take responsibility for defeat. Rather than accept the shame of failure they were prepared to see Japan and its civilization totally destroyed and sacrifice the lives of millions of Japanese people. They were indirectly at least responsible for the tragedies of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. To regard them as “sacrificial lambs” and enshrine them in Yasukuni Shrine is to insult the Japanese people and the “gods” whom some Japanese at least still revere.
Why did President Harry Truman decide to use the atomic bombs? Some of the reasons adduced such as that the developers of the bomb needed to know how it would work are unacceptable. But others are much more telling.
One was the existence of Japanese plans to massacre Allied prisoners of war if the Allies invaded Japan. After the way in which Allied prisoners had suffered at the hands of the Japanese military. e.g., in Southeast Asia and the Philippines, citizens in Allied countries would never have forgiven their leaders if they had the weapons to prevent a massacre and did not use them.
We must also remember the appalling loss of life involved in the assault on Okinawa. The Allied invasion of the Japanese mainland that was being planned would certainly have involved colossal Allied casualties as well as the almost certain devastation of Japan and the end of Japanese civilization. The Allied peoples wanted an end to war, destruction and ever more casualties.
Truman’s decision was not taken lightly. Who in the circumstances prevailing at the time can be certain that if they were in his shoes and knew what he did about the costs in human life of an invasion of Japan would have made a different decision? If the war had not ended in August 1945, many Japanese who went on to see the revival of Japan would not have survived.
Hugh Cortazzi served as Britain’s ambassador to Japan from 1980 to 1984.
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