"Even if the Japanese people are weary of the war," Commander of the Combined Fleet Admiral Soemu Toyoda insisted, "we must fight to the last man." And scarcely any of those "last men" themselves — the cannon fodder — made the slightest sign of opposition, let alone protest, no more than did Captain Kojo's doomed men. Most Japanese, including civilians, still couldn't conceive of any other end to the war than victory or death. Just before the Emperor's August 14 broadcast telling his people to accept defeat, Tokyo shopkeepers sharpened knives, expecting an order for the entire nation to commit
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