There were other options besides just those two. Japan at the time would have accepted any peace agreement with just a single clause: that the Emperor would not

There were other options besides just those two. Japan at the time would have accepted any peace agreement with just a single clause: that the Emperor would not be executed. Anyone else could be. This was a reasonable agreement to make since the US didn't execute him anyway. The war could have ended in the same state that it ultimately did with far less loss of life on both sides except for the US insistence on unconditional surrender.