Diary says Tojo against surrender
Japanese World War II leader Hideki Tojo wanted to keep fighting even after U.S. atomic bombs destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, accusing surrender proponents of being “frightened,” a newly released diary reveals.
Excerpts from the approximately 20 pages written by Tojo in the final days of the war and held by the National Archives of Japan were published for the first time in newspapers.
Tojo, executed in 1948 after being convicted of war crimes, by the Allies, was prime minister during much of the war. The notes buttress other evidence that Tojo was fiercely opposed to surrender, despite the hopelessness of Japan’s war effort.
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