SDHF Newsletter No.231 Bridging the Atomic Divide

Bridging the Atomic Divide:
Debating Japan-US Attitudes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki

December 8, 2018

On December 7 (December 8, in Japan), 1941, Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, which started total war between Japan and America; today is the 77th anniversary of the start of the war.
The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor though condemned as a sneak attack by America was in fact due to a delay in sending a notice by Japan of a break in Japan-US diplomatic relations, due to a technical failure by the Japanese Embassy in Washington.
The “sneak attack” campaign was so effective that the American people, most of whom were against war, fired-up to beat Japan.
A new book has been published, Bridging the Atomic Divide: Debating Japan-US Attitudes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, by Harry Wray & Seishiro Sugihara. In the book, Harry Wray critiques thinking embraced by the Japanese people about the atomic bombing while Seihsiro Sugihara counters with circumstances and counterarguments from the Japanese side. They discuss, in a frank and candid manner, an extremely sensitive subject that Japanese and Americans have long avoided. It is emphasized in the book that the “sneak attack” campaign led the atomic bombing perpetuated four years later.

https://www.amazon.com/Bridging-Atomic-Divide-Attitudes-Hiroshima/dp/1498593216/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1544085583&sr=8-1&keywords=Bridging+the+Atomic+Divide

This is an introduction of a new book. A book review will be forthcoming.

MOTEKI Hiromichi, Acting Chairman
for KASE Hideaki, Chairman
Society for the Dissemination of Historical Fact