There's a lot of revisionist history out there. The Emperor singled-out the atomic bombs in his surrender message. Japan was depending on the USSR to mediate

There's a lot of revisionist history out there. The Emperor singled-out the atomic bombs in his surrender message. Japan was depending on the USSR to mediate a conditional surrender, until they entered the war, which closed that avenue. And the reason the USSR hastily entered the war was because of the atomic bomb, they knew it was about to end. Japan was no doubt very concerned about a second front in the war, but I don't know of any particular fear of the USSR... Japan had soundly defeated a pre-USSR Russia in the Russo-Japanese War. It's quite possible that they would have endured the USSR joining the war effort, if not for the additional "shock" of the atomic bombs, and Truman's bluff that the US would be dropping one every week... https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/pacific/#transcript https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/pacific/#t...