Japan's Longest Day by The Pacific War Research Society (Kodansha)

For Americans, December 7, 1941 will always be “a day which will live in infamy”. It is the day Japan attacked Pearl Harbor which resulted in bringing the United States into the Second World War. Four years later, Japan would have its own day which will “live in infamy”. That date would be August 15, 1945.  “For one day in August 1945, while the world waited, Japan struggled to confront surrender - or annihilation. This is the story of those twenty-four hours.” It is the day when the Japanese heard the voice of their Emperor for the first time as he gave a speech announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allied Forces. 

Originally published as Nihon no Ichiban Nagai Hi in 1965 by Bungei Shunju Ltd. It was compiled by the Pacific War Research Society, a fourteen member group led by Kazutoshi Hando who passed away this year on January 12. Japan’s Longest Day reconstructs the last twenty-four hours before the Emperor of Japan’s broadcast announcing the surrender of Japan to the Allies and putting an end to the Pacific War. 

On July 26, 1945, the nations of the United States, Great Britain, China, and the Soviet Union issued the Potsdam Declaration, the statement was an ultimatum outlining the terms for Japan’s complete surrender. It stated that “if Japan did not surrender, it would face ‘utter and prompt destruction’”.

The Emperor and other members of the cabinet including the Prime Minister realized that the war was lost but the problem was how to bring the war to a close. The Imperial Army “would admit neither defeat nor surrender - and it continued to insist that it, and it alone, knew what was best for the country.” The country was at an impasse. The top members of the government and the military leaders could not decide on what action to take. 

Many young officers and soldiers believed it was a dishonor to surrender and planned a coup d’etat. They shot a high ranking officer who was guarding the Imperial Palace and started a rebellion against the government, rationalizing that the cabinet members were being traitorous to the Empire of Japan and to the Emperor himself. Other members raided NHK, Japan’s national radio station to prevent the broadcast of the Emperor’s speech. Fortunately for Japan, their efforts failed and the announcement was made at noon on August 15, 1945. 

I couldn’t help but see the parallels to the military uprising and the current situation in the U.S. which lead to the attack on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. It certainly seemed to be a case of history repeating itself. As George Santanyana is credited as saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” If more American citizens were aware of world history, perhaps the attack on the Capitol may never have happened. In Japan, it was the military trying to incite younger soldiers to rebel against their own country and to spread false rumors of senior cabinet members being traitors. Now in the twenty-first century we had a sitting President accused of “incitement of insurrection” because he did not agree with masses that showed he lost the presidential election. 

Fortunately, for both Japan and the United States, the two countries chose the path of reason. Japan became an international economic power and with the swearing in of Joe Biden as our new President, the future's looking bright for the U.S. as well. ~Ernie Hoyt