Japan

From the summer of 1944, Japan was intensively bombed. Forty-one Japanese cities were destroyed by bombing. On August 6, 1945, a total of 90,000 to 120,000 Japanese were killed after the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima. Three days later, on August 9, the second atomic bomb hit Nagasaki. This bomb caused even greater damage. A total of 150,000 to 200,000 people lost their lives. In a radio address (known as Gyokuon-hsa) on August 15, 1945, Hirohito announced acceptance of the terms of the Potsdam Declaration. On the same day, the Japanese government communicated this message to the Allied Powers: "Acting by order and in the name of the Emperor, the Japanese Government and the Japanese Imperial Headquarters, we hereby declare our acceptance of the terms set forth in the declaration issued by the Heads of Government of the United States, China and Great Britain on July 26, 1945, at Potsdam".