WW2. Why didn't we drop the Bomb on Tokyo? Why Hiroshima & Nagasaki?

Question

It just seems like Tokyo would have been the biggest city, probably the head of government? Was the US trying to make a "limited" statement?

Answer 1

Satori's is closest;both Hiroshima and Nagasaki were military/industrial cities....

in 2007 it is impossible to realize just how important the Emperor was to the Japanese people.....the man in the street literally thought he was the 125th direct decedent of God; no one without special training could look directly upon the Emperor without going blind.....this is what the people who are building your Honda and Sony TV were taught growing up.........

had we vaporized the Emperor the Japanese would never have surrendered. We would have to have gone ahead with the landings and, as Douglas MacArthur feared., would have had a million Allied casualties and probably 20,000,000 dead Japanese.

besides, we had fire bombed Tokyo in May of '45 and burned down half the city and killed more than at H or N

Answer 2

Because the Emperor lived in Tokyo. If we dropped the Bomb there, we ran the risk of killing him and the Japanese would never have surrendered. Yes, we were trying to make a limited statement, mainly that we were more than willing to destroy Japan, unless they surrendered. The atomic bomb allowed the Emperor to call for surrender, and save face at the same time.

Answer 3

I'm no expert, but if i recall correctly Hiroshima and Nagasaki were direct military targets, full of factories which were producing weapons of war. Tokyo was a capital, and though it would have been a decisive blow to glass the city, it would be a direct civilian and political hit, not a military one.

Answer 4

Because Japan surrendered before we could. The plan was to start at medium-sized city, Hiroshima, then move up the population list until Japan either surrendered or we were forced to invade - that would have been the last option.

Answer 5

Hiroshima and Nagasaki were larger Military Targets, they contained war factories and bases. But they still had civilians and I think the US was trying to minimize civilian loss.

Answer 6

Tokyo had already been destroyed by fire bombing and it was important to leave some sort of Japanese leadership to decide on the surrender

Answer 7

I have also heard that since Tokyo was already bombed they chose targets where they could register the damage the bombs made. The U.S. was trying to see just how effective their new weapon was.

Answer 8

They wanted as less civilian causalities as possible. Civilians are innocent victims in any war and shouldn't be used as bait or in this case, a bargaining chip.