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00:01Tuesday, 14th of August, 1945, 12 noon.
00:08This next 24 hours is absolutely crucial to the ending of the war.
00:14Germany has surrendered, but the war with their allies is still raging.
00:21If Japan keeps fighting, Japan as a nation will be totally destroyed.
00:30For the first time in the nation's history, the emperor will speak to his people.
00:37It's an extraordinary moment for Japan, suddenly facing a moment where they have to admit defeat.
00:45Behind the scenes, deception, unrest, and the fear of nuclear Armageddon hang over Japan's leaders.
00:54Throughout Japan, there are still diehard radicals.
00:59They will take desperate actions.
01:03The iconic celebrations of VJ Day are etched on our collective memory.
01:09But the end of the Second World War was not a foregone conclusion.
01:15All kinds of nightmare scenarios could have played out.
01:20Particularly in this critical last 24 hours.
01:24This is the forgotten story of Victory in Japan Day.
01:29And the official end of World War II.
01:33In a secret bunker under the Imperial Palace in Tokyo, a conference is underway.
01:54The outcome of which will decide the fate of Japan and its emperor.
01:58Japan has been at war with the Allied forces of the United States, Great Britain, and China since December 1941.
02:17As of August 14th, Japan is being encircled by Allied powers that are bombing regularly.
02:29People are starving.
02:31Cities are devastated.
02:33But Japan still controls a powerful and vast army and territory.
02:39So it's really in a position to keep fighting.
02:46It has been almost a month since the Allied leaders demanded Japan's surrender in a document known as the Potsdam Declaration.
02:54The declaration sets out their terms for an unconditional surrender, which included the promise of Japan's prompt and utter destruction, should they choose to continue fighting.
03:09This was no idle threat.
03:11In an exceptional show of force, the United States dropped the first atomic bomb on the city of Hiroshima.
03:23The Soviets then made a shock entrance into the war, invading Japanese-held territories in China and Korea.
03:31It must have seemed to the emperor and his generals as if things could not get any worse.
03:37And then the United States dropped the second atomic bomb on Nagasaki, so they needed to act quick.
03:54Believing the situation is hopeless, the emperor accepts that the war must end now.
04:00But the unconditional surrender offered by the Allies fails to address one key concern.
04:08What will happen to the emperor?
04:12Emperor Hirohito is sovereign of state and commander-in-chief, and he rules Japan.
04:21He's also a divine figure.
04:24He is the manifestation of racial and cultural identity of Japan, and therefore he is considered as state itself.
04:44The Japanese government have already offered to surrender, with one condition.
04:50The emperor's continuing sovereignty must be guaranteed.
04:54But the response from the U.S. failed to give any assurances.
05:02It was a concern that if the Allies accepted conditions, this would feel like a threat to future peace.
05:12This response has left everyone in the Japanese cabinet conflicted.
05:17In the underground bunker, tensions are running high as they deliberate over the fate of their nation.
05:38They're meeting in this very hot, fetid air of this bunker, and are stuffed into this fairly small room.
05:48The most important people at the conference are, first of all, the peace faction, led by Emperor Hirohito, and supported by the prime minister Suzuki.
05:57They believe that the American intentions are good.
06:02Once Japan accepts custom ultimatum and surrender, under Allied occupation, Japan will be able to keep imperial institutions somehow.
06:15But there is strong opposition to this interpretation, particularly from the war minister, General Anami.
06:23Anami's great concern is said to have been the fact that the emperor's future is unknown.
06:33Decisions of this caliber must be agreed unanimously by the cabinet.
06:39But they remain divided.
06:42Knowing time is of the essence, Prime Minister Suzuki takes the highly unusual step of requesting the emperor's sacred decision.
06:53The idea that he would weigh in on such a crucial decision is kind of world-shaking within the Japanese government.
07:05The emperor declares his wish that an imperial rescript be prepared, announcing the termination of the war.
07:13It's an extraordinary psychological moment.
07:18We have to imagine that.
07:19You know, here is Japan, suddenly facing a moment where they have to admit defeat.
07:24It could be the disaster for Japan as a nation.
07:28Many of the cabinet members present actually fell to the floor and prostrated themselves to express their apologies for having lost the war and placed the emperor in such an untenable situation.
07:40As head of state and supreme commander of the military, the emperor's word is final.
07:50Japan must surrender.
07:52But there are fears that some in the military will not accept the order.
07:57Even the faithful war minister, General Anami, is under suspicion.
08:01Along with other generals, he believes they should enact their Ketsu-go strategy, arming every single Japanese citizen with anything that can be used as a weapon.
08:17What the Japanese military is hoping is that by engaging the whole of the Japanese population in resistance, an invasion would be impossible.
08:31This extremist belief that 100 million Japanese people should fight to destruction has created a potentially deadly rift within the government.
08:45For diehards, there is no tomorrow after unconditional surrender.
08:52It's worse than death.
08:53People who believe that Japan needs to surrender, they're really walking on eggshells because the word could leak out and they could become the target of assassins.
09:09But secret moves to end the war have already been leaked.
09:14On that morning, American planes flew over Tokyo and dropped leaflets instead of bombs.
09:23The leaflets tell the Japanese people that the Japanese government has agreed to surrender the emperor.
09:36He's afraid that these leaflets will spark some sort of uprising and the military might act to take over the government.
09:45So it seems like time is running out.
09:47Fearing an uprising, the emperor has taken the unprecedented decision to speak to his people through a radio broadcast.
09:59His voice alone will break the news that the war must end.
10:03He tells the attendees that I will stand in front of the microphone if it is necessary to speak to the whole Japanese people.
10:17He wants it to be clear to the Japanese people.
10:21It's not the cabinet, it's not a group of traitors who has made this decision.
10:24And when that word comes from the emperor himself, then how can the leaders intervene?
10:34Just a mile from the imperial palace is a prisoner of war camp holding up to 30 men.
10:40Soldiers and civilians from the UK, the US, Australia and Holland.
10:46There are almost 800 camps like this across Asia.
10:50One prisoner is risking his life by keeping a diary hidden in the walls of his barracks.
11:15When the imperial conference is being held beside the end of the war, Frank Fujita is about nine blocks from the imperial palace in Tokyo at a camp that the prisoners refer to as Bunker Hill.
11:33Frank is a 23-year-old Texan soldier with Japanese heritage, seen as a traitor by his captors.
11:41The rumour mill is working overtime at this point.
11:45Two atomic bombs have been dropped already, one on Hiroshima, one on Nagasaki.
11:50And they're worried the third one's going to be on Tokyo.
11:52And they're all very sick, but they are hatching this plan to try and escape.
11:59Fujita says that we were sweating blood.
12:01It's a really terribly anxious 24 hours for them.
12:07Their fears are not unfounded.
12:09At the Los Alamos nuclear laboratory in New Mexico, a third atomic bomb is ready, waiting for President Truman's order.
12:22If he gives the word, another Japanese city could be annihilated.
12:28Transcripts of a top-secret telephone call show discussions about how, and when, to drop the next atomic bombs.
12:41With production in full swing, one atomic bomb is being made every ten days.
12:48Three will be ready by the end of September.
12:50Any delay to the surrender could have apocalyptic consequences for the people of Japan.
13:00The doomsday clock is ticking.
13:03With the threat of another atomic bomb hanging over them, and the possibility of a military coup,
13:22the Cabinet go their separate ways to begin making arrangements for the Emperor's broadcast announcing Japan's surrender.
13:30Everything has to be done very quickly, because people are worrying about the possible third atomic bomb.
13:41With no time to lose, the directors of Japan's national broadcaster, NHK,
13:47are instructed to bring a recording team to the palace in two hours' time.
13:51They are shocked to hear there is to be an Imperial message broadcast to the nation.
13:59Speaking to the public directly is a radical idea.
14:06The Emperor has never spoken in public before.
14:10The most effective way of communicating something that was beyond the powers of imagination of his Imperial subjects
14:18would best be accomplished by him directly addressing the nation.
14:26The arrangements must be treated with the utmost secrecy.
14:31If word gets out, the surrender, and their lives, could be in danger.
14:36After General Anami leaves the meeting, he is met by his brother-in-law, Lieutenant Colonel Takeshita.
14:45He has prepared a plan to enact martial law and prevent the surrender.
14:50He's one of the younger officers who's trying to organize a coup with the idea that they will sort of rescue the Emperor
15:02from people who have poisoned his mind and gotten him to surrender.
15:07And so he wants Anami to approve and support this idea.
15:12Anami is tempted, but he says nothing.
15:16And he makes a last final appeal to Anami, please, you know, resign your post and the government will fall
15:22or announce again that we're going to fight to the very end.
15:26General Anami has to carry an impossible task.
15:32He has to maintain the order in the Imperial Army while he follows Emperor's order.
15:41In the past decade, young firebrands within the military have been responsible for multiple deadly coups and assassinations.
15:50Anami somehow has to control those radicals and avoid violence.
15:59It's not just Takeshita who is determined to continue fighting.
16:04At the Imperial Guard's headquarters, four junior officers are discussing the impending surrender.
16:13Young military officers not happy to surrender start a plot to stop the Japanese government.
16:24The ringleader is Major Hatanaka.
16:27Major Hatanaka was a middle-ranking staff officer in the Military Affairs Bureau of the War Ministry in Tokyo.
16:38He was someone who had imbibed the modern samurai Kool-Aid, so to speak.
16:43The all-out aim of Hatanaka and his supporters is simply to stop the surrender from happening.
16:50Whether that's by interrupting that broadcast of the Emperor's words,
16:54by reaching the Emperor himself to change his mind and reverse the decision.
16:59The young officers agree.
17:02They must continue fighting to preserve the Imperial State.
17:06They are willing to die traitors.
17:08Around 3 o'clock p.m., the NHK, the Japan Broadcasting Corporation team, arrives with technicians.
17:18And they are quickly setting up the equipment to record Emperor Hirohito's speech.
17:29With no sign of the official Japanese surrender,
17:32a squadron of American B-29 bombers begins taking off from Northwest Field in Guam.
17:42Every 30 seconds, a plane takes off.
17:50All 143 planes are laden with bombs and heading for the Japanese home islands.
18:02As the planes begin their journey across the Pacific,
18:06General Anami is addressing his officers at the War Ministry.
18:12Thousands of Japanese soldiers have died during the course of the war
18:15because they refused to surrender.
18:20I think Anami understands the psychological crisis these soldiers will be going through,
18:26which is why he takes the time to talk to them.
18:30Unfortunately, Hatanaka and his fellow rebels are not there to hear Anami's speech.
18:404 p.m.
18:43General Anami rejoins the cabinet to debate the contents of the Imperial re-script.
18:49Every minister must agree to the wording and sign before the Emperor can make his recording.
18:55The prisoners of war at Bunker Hill are still watching the skies with dread.
19:09They're very concerned whenever they saw a lone B-29
19:15because they knew that it had been a single plane that had dropped the bomb in Hiroshima,
19:20and they immediately, you know, freeze up, thinking this is it.
19:255 p.m. brings more concerning news.
19:32Frank learns that the Imperial government has ordered martial law throughout Japan.
19:38Something serious is happening.
19:40Martial law maybe indicated that war was coming to an end and said,
19:46well, if that happens, it's going to lead to your death, actually.
19:51The end of the war may not spell freedom for Frank.
19:55It's one hour to the Emperor's recording,
20:02but General Anami is digging in his heels over the wording of the re-script,
20:08refusing to accept anything that suggests the war is lost.
20:13He cannot allow his army to be seen as the weaker side.
20:16So Anami continues to fight for the better expression,
20:21so the compromise was the war situation has not developed to Japan's advantage.
20:32The NHK team are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Emperor.
20:37The Prime Ministerial Cabinet were not aware these maneuvers were going on.
20:42I think if they had known about the coup attempt,
20:46they would not have had a five-hour meeting dithering over a couple of words,
20:51and they would have gotten it out as quickly as possible.
20:56The delays haven't just allowed the rebels to get organized,
21:01whilst the Cabinet argue over semantics.
21:06The Allies are still yet to learn of any official plans to surrender.
21:10If the surrender is not announced in time,
21:14a far greater tragedy will occur.
21:19Truman is frustrated at what he sees as pointless delays.
21:24You know, for the Americans, they don't know what's going on in Tokyo,
21:27and of course they suspect the worst.
21:30President Truman actually said to British Foreign Minister
21:35that the United States may need to drop the atomic bomb on Tokyo.
21:41The whole of Tokyo is facing atomic obliteration.
21:46Time is running out, so they had to act quickly.
21:53At 8.30pm, the re-script is finally signed by the Emperor.
21:58The surrender broadcast must wait until the following day.
22:06At 9.00pm, August 14,
22:10NHK actually broadcast special news
22:13that an important announcement is going to be made at noon, August 15.
22:19So everyone has to listen to it.
22:21The people don't know what to think of it.
22:25Is it an announcement of victory?
22:27Or is it an announcement of more sacrifice?
22:31Or worse?
22:36At last, news of the surrender can be transmitted to the Allies,
22:41via their intermediaries in Switzerland and Sweden.
22:44The B-29s laden with bombs are 200 miles from Tokyo.
22:53They're listening out for the code word,
22:56which will tell them to abandon the mission.
22:59But no word comes.
23:01Although informally,
23:02it was clear that Japan planned to accept the terms of surrender,
23:06it had not formally done so yet.
23:09And so the Allies continued to fight on.
23:14As the bombers approach Tokyo,
23:18they are detected on Japanese radar,
23:21and the city goes into blackout.
23:23Around 11pm,
23:25Emperor Hirohito is about to leave the bunker.
23:29A siren starts sounding,
23:31alerting the coming of the US bombers.
23:34So he is told to return.
23:3927 minutes later,
23:42the all-clear signal is given.
23:44The target is not Tokyo.
23:47The Emperor can finally make his recording.
23:51When the Emperor goes to record his speech,
23:56the whole experience is surreal for everybody involved.
24:00The idea that the Emperor is going to make a recording,
24:03that people are going to hear his voice,
24:05to be even in the Emperor's presence
24:07would have been unimaginable for him.
24:09The Emperor steps before the microphone.
24:16He asks if he needs to raise his voice,
24:19how loud should he speak?
24:20And the producer says,
24:22well, his normal speaking voice is fine.
24:25After the Emperor finishes the first recording,
24:39he asks how he's done,
24:42and there were some unclear words.
24:46So he tries the second recording,
24:50and he stumbles,
24:55and some words were wrong.
24:58But time is running out.
25:02Deciding that the first take was best,
25:05the vinyl records are ready to be sent
25:07to the broadcast studio.
25:09By the time the recording is finished,
25:12rumors reach people involved
25:14that there is a coup d'etat attempt
25:17in and around the Tokyo metropolitan area.
25:20They worry that these rebellious or insurgents
25:24that may find the records and then destroy them.
25:28They decide that hiding the records
25:30until everything becomes safe is a must.
25:34The Emperor's chamberlains are tasked
25:36with protecting the vinyl copies,
25:39wrapping them in bags,
25:41before hiding them in a safe
25:42within an office used by the Empress's staff.
25:50It's midnight in Tokyo
25:52when President Truman breaks the news
25:55that he has received Japan's surrender offer.
25:58I have received this afternoon
26:00a message from the Japanese government.
26:03I deem this reply a full acceptance
26:06of the Potsdam Declaration,
26:08which specifies the unconditional surrender of Japan.
26:13While the Allied nations celebrate the news,
26:17the Japanese people remain unaware
26:19that their country has agreed to surrender.
26:22And until the Emperor's words are broadcast,
26:25his country will continue to fight on.
26:30On the 14th of August,
26:33the Imperial Palace and the person of the Emperor
26:36has been guarded by the Imperial Guards Division.
26:39And it's regarded as the most loyal division in the army.
26:43Its job is really to protect the person of the Emperor.
26:47And its commander, General Mori,
26:48is regarded as one of his most trusted army officers.
26:51Major Hatanaka and Lieutenant Colonel Shizaki,
27:00they go to General Mori,
27:04the commander of Imperial Guards Office,
27:08to persuade General Mori
27:11to go along with the coup idea.
27:14The idea is to kidnap the Emperor
27:19and cut off communication between palace
27:23and the outside world.
27:25But their impassioned attempts to persuade Mori
27:28fall on deaf ears.
27:30Mori emphatically refuses one more time.
27:34Hatanaka pulls out a pistol.
27:38Mori calls Hatanaka a fool.
27:40And Hatanaka shoots him.
27:47Major Hatanaka takes the seal of General Mori
27:51and put on a false order,
27:55which will be circulated among palace guards.
28:00Unaware the orders are forged,
28:02the Imperial Guards begin to surround the palace.
28:061 a.m.
28:17Tokyo is still in blackout.
28:19The blackouts that are taking place across Tokyo
28:22in response to American raids
28:25create the sense of destabilization,
28:28uncertainty and chaos.
28:30And that really helps for the plotters of this coup
28:33to convince others to cooperate with them
28:36and to consolidate their position.
28:38With his false orders,
28:40Hatanaka can now enact his grand plan.
28:43First of all,
28:43they were going to occupy the palace grounds,
28:46isolate the Emperor,
28:48and they were going to find the records,
28:52destroy them,
28:53preventing the broadcast,
28:54and eventually persuading the Emperor
28:57to rescind the surrender.
29:00They'd already murdered that night,
29:01so if they had blood on their swords,
29:03they were ready.
29:07The B-29 bombers have hit their target.
29:16It's not Tokyo.
29:17They have just destroyed Japan's largest oil reserve.
29:25With the fuel up in smoke,
29:27there is no way Japan can continue the war.
29:38While the coup is unfolding on the palace grounds
29:42and while the rebels are hunting for the recordings,
29:46General Anami has left his office.
29:49He's gone back to his house.
29:51He starts drinking sake.
29:53He writes two messages for posterity.
29:59Anami is interrupted by the arrival of his brother-in-law,
30:03Lieutenant Colonel Takeshita,
30:05who plans to persuade Anami to endorse the coup.
30:09But Takeshita realizes something is wrong.
30:13Believing he has fulfilled the Emperor's wishes,
30:16but devastated by his role in Japan's surrender,
30:20Anami has decided he must now take drastic action.
30:24They sit and drink sake together until the small hours.
30:33At the Imperial Palace,
30:36the phone lines have all been cut.
30:38There is no way to call for help or to warn the Emperor.
30:45Forty Imperial guards are going room to room,
30:48searching for the recordings.
30:49The blackout triggered by the American planes is adding to the chaos.
31:02They're fumbling around pretty much in the dark,
31:04so that blackout, as it turns out,
31:08makes it more difficult for the rebels to locate the recording.
31:13Risking their lives,
31:15the household chamberlains misdirect and confuse the guards,
31:19hoping the coup will be quashed before they discover the records.
31:24If the army rebels confiscated and destroyed the records,
31:28preventing the surrender broadcast from being made,
31:30the war would have continued to be extended by days.
31:35And when you're talking about days with a third atomic bomb
31:40already headed towards the atomic bombing specialist unit,
31:43you're talking about a lot of differences between life and death.
31:46Away from the Imperial household,
31:53the Emperor is unaware the coup he feared
31:56is happening right outside.
31:59All the time the Emperor's been safe,
32:01he's been in a fortified building in the palace grounds.
32:05As the night progressed, as dawn approached,
32:09word began getting out about Morty's murder.
32:12When they are told that Morty has been killed,
32:16then the guards realize that they've been lied to.
32:22Having failed to intercept the recordings,
32:26Hatanaka makes a desperate last-ditch attempt
32:29to stop the surrender,
32:31forcing his way into the NHK broadcast studios.
32:37Hatanaka confronts the NHK announcer, Tateno,
32:42and demands him to give his airtime.
32:46Realizing he cannot stop the broadcast,
32:49Hatanaka believes he can make his case to the people of Japan.
32:53Hatanaka even threatens this NHK announcer with a pistol.
32:58He will do anything to stop the broadcast.
33:01But the announcer in the broadcast booth
33:04was very quick on his feet.
33:06He explained to Major Hatanaka that
33:09since the city was still under a warning alert
33:13for a possible bombing raid,
33:15he was not allowed to let anybody else get on the air.
33:20The Major pointed the pistol at the NHK announcer's head repeatedly,
33:24but the announcer didn't waver.
33:28As the sun rises,
33:30the rebel insurgents are rounded up
33:32and the palace is brought back under control.
33:36Most of the soldiers involved
33:38had no idea they were part of a coup attempt.
33:41At the NHK studios,
33:46Hatanaka is still demanding to be let on air.
33:49The technicians have disconnected the microphone as a precaution.
33:53By 7 a.m.,
33:58a phone call comes from the Eastern District Army
34:01to the NHK station,
34:04saying that the coup d'etat attempt is completely suppressed.
34:09So NHK staff is more assertive this time
34:13to tell Hatanaka to get out.
34:23A devastated General Anami has taken his own life.
34:34General Anami's last poem,
34:38before his ritual suicide,
34:40simply conveys his apologies
34:43to the great crime he committed.
34:48And he wishes for the rebuild of Japan.
34:53To this day, historians wonder
34:55what he meant by the great crime.
35:01With his last words,
35:03was Anami apologizing for failing to act to prevent the coup?
35:08Had he secretly supported it by turning a blind eye?
35:13Or was the perceived shame and dishonor of the surrender,
35:17shared by so many others in Japan,
35:20too much for him to bear?
35:21It's a horrible thing
35:23to fight an all-out war for eight years
35:27and to lose
35:29and to have gained nothing
35:31and indeed only lost
35:33as a result of the widespread casualties,
35:36the human cost of the war.
35:38With the palace seemingly back under control,
35:55the Chamberlains decide it's time to retrieve the recordings.
35:59But the question is,
36:01how to get them out of the palace
36:03without any rebels noticing?
36:04There's two different sets,
36:08and one is rather ostentatiously taken
36:10by a member of the ministry
36:12and who drives off with them.
36:16Whilst the decoy set is paraded through the palace,
36:20the records intended for broadcast
36:22are smuggled out in a bento bag.
36:24He slings it over his shoulder
36:27and then casually works out the building
36:30along with the records.
36:32With just two hours to the broadcast,
36:35it's vital the recordings make it safely to the studio.
36:39Despite all of the efforts of so many people,
36:43there was a real possibility
36:45that had news of the existence of those records
36:49been widespread,
36:50there might have been an effort to destroy them.
36:5310.30 a.m.
36:59At the Imperial Palace,
37:01a radio is set up ready for the Emperor
37:03to listen to his own broadcast.
37:07Just outside the gates,
37:10Hatanaka and an accomplice
37:11are handing out leaflets
37:13in a last-ditch attempt to derail the surrender.
37:15One of them was on horseback
37:20and the other on a motorcycle.
37:21And, you know,
37:22just sort of picture this scene
37:24of these really fanatical officers
37:26riding around trying to recruit supporters
37:29and not having any luck,
37:31not surprisingly.
37:33Devastated that he had failed to stop the surrender,
37:36Hatanaka turns his pistol on himself.
37:39He committed suicide
37:42on the grounds of the Imperial Palace.
37:44an act of final apology
37:47to his majesty
37:49for all the trouble he'd caused him.
37:51The records are rushed to Studio 8,
38:00where technicians check the playback.
38:03It feels sacrilegious but necessary,
38:06given the situation.
38:08The whole of Japan is waiting to hear the Emperor.
38:11It would be horrendous
38:13if a technical issue
38:14prevented to the surrender.
38:21As the record plays,
38:24a soldier guarding the studio goes berserk,
38:27threatening to kill the NHK staff
38:29to put a stop to the broadcast.
38:33As the moment of the broadcast approaches,
38:36the people of Japan
38:37begin assembling at their radios.
38:41Across the nation,
38:46people bow in anticipation
38:47of hearing their Emperor's voice.
38:50To a chopped deadline,
38:55We hope to make a crack for his efficiency.
38:57We must come into account
38:57to be able to make its start
39:02We hope of getting into account
39:03and to accrue the wrong way
39:04that the government
39:06will become a great thing.
39:07He is HisContent
39:10to the państwo
39:14and his Robert Yang
39:17and his 약간
39:19So, in order for the first time, the king is the first priority of the war.
39:25The king is the first priority of the war.
39:29The king is the first priority of the war.
39:38Once the emperor's subjects heard that message, that was it. Game over.
39:44The poor quality of the broadcast means many of those listening struggle to hear or understand the address.
39:52They have no idea of what he is talking about because the imperial rescript is written in a very old-fashioned Japanese, pretty much like a Latin.
40:03That's not the language that they actually use in daily life.
40:07But at least they understand that the emperor is telling them to bear the unbearable and then suffer insufferable.
40:19The fiercely debated wording breaks the news to the people that the war is over so gently that some are left unsure if Japan has actually surrendered.
40:31A rather important omission in the emperor's speech is that he does not use the word surrender. Japan is not surrendering.
40:41The news of the end of the war is met with a multitude of reactions.
40:48Initially, many people feel sense of relief because war was nothing but suffering to them.
40:59Sacrificing their own family members, sacrificing their own family members, their father, husband, sons, who will never come back.
41:10And they are told now that it was over.
41:15All those efforts for nothing and everything was wasted.
41:25In Japanese words, we call it kōmukan.
41:29It's a feeling, a sense of emptiness and exhaustion and confusion.
41:38All those things happened on August 15th.
41:45The emperor's broadcast brought to an end a four-and-a-half-year war with the Allies.
41:54It's estimated that 25 million people died in the course of the Asia-Pacific War.
42:0119 million of those were civilians.
42:04Japan has today surrendered.
42:09The last of our enemies is laid low.
42:11Think of this time especially, of the prisoners in Japanese hands.
42:17We rejoice that their sufferings will soon be at an end.
42:21Peace has once again come to the world.
42:23Thousands of men, women and children were still being held in prisoner of war camps across Asia.
42:38When the emperor makes his broadcast to the nation, it doesn't result in the immediate liberation of the POWs and in Frank's camp or anywhere else.
42:50Many prisoners of war were so weak from starvation and forced labour that they died before their camps could be located.
42:59Some were callously executed by their guards as an act of revenge.
43:03After weeks of waiting, Frank and his fellow prisoners were finally liberated by an American fleet on the 30th of August 1945.
43:13Frank, in fact, is so elated he jumps into the water to try and get to the boat and he finds that he's so weak he can't keep himself above water and he's kicking himself for risking his life in his way.
43:31And somebody reaches down and grabs him and pulls him out.
43:38Like Frank, many of the soldiers and civilians caught up in the conflict had to wait months to realise their own freedom.
43:46For many, the horrors they experienced never left them.
43:51Emperor Hirohito's radio broadcast on August the 15th, 1945, is a pivotal moment in Japanese history, symbolising both defeat and a step towards rebuilding.
44:06Japan itself had a strange sort of period of limbo before the first Allied landing parties began arriving.
44:1618 days later, a formal ceremony took place on the deck of the battleship USS Missouri.
44:26Japan signed the peace treaties to end formally World War II.
44:32With the surrender, Japan's military was disbanded. To this day, they have only a self-defence force.
44:40Japan became an occupied nation, but the emperor remained as a symbolic ruler.
44:46The power that had once belonged in the person of the emperor, the sovereignty, the legitimacy, the beating heart of the Japanese nation had been the emperor.
44:56But with the surrender, sovereignty is transferred to the Japanese people.
45:01They have the right to decide what direction that Japan will take in the future.
45:05Hirohito avoided being tried as a war criminal, but many in the upper echelons of his government and the military did not.
45:16The atomic bombs which were being prepared to send to Japan never left US soil.
45:26The dropping of the atomic bombs in Nagasaki and Hiroshima triggered a nuclear arms race, the legacy of which we still live with today.
45:35Japan's decision to surrender on August 15th is certainly a historic moment.
45:45It became the turning point in Japanese history.
45:49When the news broke finally on August 14th, the Japanese had accepted the Potsdam ultimatum, the American and British Commonwealth celebrated.
46:01It was the time of celebrating.
46:03Victory in Japan Day marks the official end of the Second World War.
46:08This is a time for great rejoicing and a time for solemn contemplation.
46:15With the destructive force of war removed from the world, we can turn now to the grave task of preserving a peace which you gallant men and women have won.
46:26This night of total victory, we salute you.
46:56the world's been united in Montynes on 546.
46:59The seiner
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