Part of the problem understanding this is how much the leadership of Japan was strongly split into factions with opposite goals and views. There was no unified

Part of the problem understanding this is how much the leadership of Japan was strongly split into factions with opposite goals and views. There was no unified decision to start the war. Instead the army unilaterally precipitated the war. There was a lack of unified views about ending the war. To say that the war was already lost was true and recognized by many, but there was a strong faction that would not support surrender. It’s hard to prove a counterfactual, whether not dropping the bomb would result in fewer deaths or more.