London Review of Books (LRB) – November 30, 2023: The latest issue features Jaqueline Rose on violence and its origins; Zain Samir reporting from Southern Lebanon; Clare Bucknell – Rescuing Lord Byron; David Trotter – Werner Herzog’s Visions, and more….
In response to the destruction of Gaza, it seems to be becoming almost impossible to lament more than one people at a time. When I signed Artists for Palestine’s statement last month, I looked for mention of the atrocities committed by Hamas against Israeli Jews on 7 October, and then decided to settle for the unambiguous condemnation of ‘every act of violence against civilians and every infringement of international law whoever perpetrates them’.
‘Little Boy’ exploded over Hiroshima at 8.15 a.m. on 6 August 1945, wiping most of the city off the face of the earth and killing eighty thousand people instantly. But the ‘shock’ to the leadership in Tokyo envisaged by the former US secretary of war Henry Stimson failed to materialise.
American Heritage Magazine (August 2023) – This World War II issue features ‘Was the Bomb Necessary?’; Struggling to End the War; What were the Japanese Thinking?; Hersey Uncovers the Horror, The Bomb’s Toxic Legacy, and more…
American bombings in Japan, such as the firebombing of Tokyo during Operation Meetinghouse on March 10, 1945, left approximately 84,000 civilians dead. Photo by Ishikawa Koyo
In the spring of 1945, American bombing raids destroyed much of Tokyo and dozens of other Japanese cities, killing at least 200,000 people, without forcing a surrender.
After the bloody battles at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, planners feared as many as two million American deaths if the US invaded the Japanese homeland.
By the summer of 1944, U.S. military power in the Pacific Theater had grown spectacularly. Beginning days after the D-Day invasion in France, American forces launched their largest attacks yet against the Japanese-held islands of Saipan on June 15, Guam on July 21, and Tinian on July 24. Situated 1,200 to 1,500 miles south of Japan in the crescent-shaped archipelago known as the Marianas, they were strategically important, defending the empire’s vital shipping lanes from Asia and preventing increased aerial attacks on the homeland.
Much of the debate over ending the war centered on the role of Emperor Hirohito, the “living deity,” after the conflict. Library of Congress
As defeat became inevitable in the summer of 1945, Japan’s government and the Allies could not agree on surrender terms, especially regarding the future of Emperor Hirohito and his throne.
As the Allied armies closed in on the German capital in 1945, the complications for ending the war in Europe paled, in comparison with the difficulty of forcing a Japanese surrender. For the Japanese military, the concept was unthinkable, a state of mind confirmed by the hundreds of thousands of Japanese servicemen who had already been killed, rather than giving up a hopeless contest.
For the Japanese leadership, the whole strategy of the Pacific war had been predicated on the idea that, after initial victories, a compromise would be reached with the Western enemies to avoid having to fight to a surrender. Switzerland was thought of as a possible neutral intermediary; so, too, the Vatican, for which reason a Japanese diplomatic mission was established there early in the war.
The Japanese government watched the situation in Italy closely, when General Pietro Badoglio became prime minister after the fall of Mussolini’s fascist regime, and remained in power after the Italian surrender in 1943. If Badoglio could modify unconditional surrender by retaining the government and Victor Emmanuel as king, then a “Badoglio” solution in Japan might ensure the survival of its imperial system.
Japan is an island country in East Asia, located in the northwest Pacific Ocean. It is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north toward the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south.
Tomonoura, formerly known as Tomonotsu, is a port in the Tomo ward of Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan. It stands on the southern point of the Numakuma Peninsula, 14 kilometers south of Fukuyama Station. Tomonoura has been a prosperous port since ancient times.
Fukuyama is a city on Japan’s Ashida River. Myōō-in Temple has an ornate 5-story pagoda built in the 1300s. The grounds of Fukuyama Castle feature cherry blossoms in spring and colorful foliage in fall. The Hiroshima Prefectural Historical Museum displays the ruins of Kusado Sengen, the area’s medieval port. South, Tomonoura is a port town known for its Edo-era buildings and the stone Jōyatō Lighthouse.
Mitarai is a port town on Osaki-Shimojima (Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture) in the Seto Inland Sea. This area was selected as an Important Preservation District for Traditional Buildings in 1994.
Video timeline: 00:00 タイトル（title） 00:14 高速船（High-speed boat） 00:46 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 01:27 天満宮（Tenmangu shrine） 01:59 菅公の井戸（Well of Kanko） 02:11 お宮のトンネル（Shrine tunnel） 02:24 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 02:52 若胡子屋跡（Wakaebisuya Historic Place） 03:04 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 04:40 常磐町とおり（Tokiwamachi Street） 07:02 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 08:15 松浦時計店（Matsuura Watch Shop） 08:36 御手洗昭和館（Mitarai Showa Museum） 08:53 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 09:12 乙女座跡（Otomeza Theater） 09:21 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 10:19 おいらん公園（Oiran Park） 11:36 歴史の見える丘公園（The Rekishi-no-Mieru-Oka Park） 11:55 大東寺（Daitoji-temple） 12:40 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 13:09 足長小学生？（Long-legged elementary school student） 13:12 満舟寺（Mansyuji-temple） 14:14 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 15:23 恵美須神社（Ebisu Shrine） 15:42 御手洗の町並み（Townscape of Mitarai） 16:13 住吉神社（Sumiyoshi Shrine） 17:13 千砂子波止（Chisago Wharf）
Contributing Correspondent Dennis Normile talks about a long-term study involving the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Seventy-five years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on the two cities in Japan, survivors are still helping scientists learn about the effects of radiation exposure.
Also this week, Sarah talks with Winnie Lau, senior manager for preventing ocean plastics at Pew Charitable Trusts about her group’s paper about what it would take to seriously fight the flow of plastics into the environment. This week’s episode was produced with help from Podigy.
News, Views and Reviews For The Intellectually Curious
Contributing Correspondent Dennis Normile talks about a long-term study involving the survivors of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings. Seventy-five years after the United States dropped nuclear bombs on the two cities in Japan, survivors are still helping scientists learn about the effects of radiation exposure. 
Boomers Daily 