Thus come August 1945, the only Japanese leader in opposition to the then ruling military clique was staying in Moscow, and the subsequent invasion of Manchuria by Russia, starting on the 90th day after the end of the war in Europe (Stalin had promise to do so to FDR). It is an interesting History, the US dropped the A-bomb on Hiroshima on August 8th, 1945, the Russians started their invasion on August 9th, the US Dropped the Second bomb on August 10th, and it still took the Japanese Government till August 15th to Surrender. The traditional western view was Japan surrendered do to the A-bombing, the Russian moved in after the Japanese had already decided to give up. The problem the facts do NOT support such history, even the US Army thought it would be tough for Stalin to move enough units from Europe to Manchuria within 90 days. We dropped the A-bomb on the 89th day to try beat the Russians, the Russian launched their attack the next day, but it is clear it had been planned over the previous 90 days, including getting the troops, equipment and supplies to support the invasion. Thus the Soviet Invasion was NOT the Soviets just moving into as Japan was defeated by the US, but a full scale movement planned while BEFORE the A-bombing.
A good argument can be made that the invasion of Manchuria killed any remaining hoped of Japan against the US (i.e. the US and the USSR would come to blows in Europe and Russia could give Japan the two things it needed in 1945, fuel and pilots). This was more an hope then anything actually planned on, for once you view the situation the stupidity of it becomes clear, but by 1945 the Japanese leadership was looking at desperate situation and grasping any any straw it could image. The Russian Invasion killed most of those hopes, more so then the A-bombing. Once it became clear Russia would enter what is now North Korea by September 1st, and take all of Korea by October 1st, Japan was looking at a combined US-USSR invasion (OR worse, dual invasions) by November 1st, 1945. Given that the only Japanese leader NOT tied in with the Military Rulers of the 1930s and 1940s was sitting in Moscow, the Japanese Leaders were looking at a Communist future, so they surrendered to the Americans to prevent that from happening. Russians were still in Manchuria on August 15th, but the Japanese Army had already been destroyed and they was nothing Japan could do to stop the Russian short of the Japanese sea, and not even there without American Assistance.
http://www.emayzine.com/lectures/JAP1930.html1921 Assassination of a Japanese Prime Minster:
http://www.ndl.go.jp/modern/e/cha3/description10.html1931 attempted assassination of the Japanese Prime Minster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamaguchi_OsachiMarch 5th, 1932 Assassination of a left wing political leader:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_TakumaThe May 15, 1932 Assassination of the Japanese Prime Minster by the Japanese Right Wing:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_15th_Incident1936 Assassination of a former Prime Minster, but by 1936 Fiance Minster:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Takahashi_KorekiyoThis was part of the February 26, 1936 incident, where many politicians were killed:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_26_IncidentThe "League of Blood Incident" a 1930 incident:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/League_of_Blood_IncidentMore on the 1930s and Japan:
http://books.google.com/books?id=yadHD-aCo_cC&pg=PA268&lpg=PA268&dq=Japan+assassination&source=bl&ots=m_QTSkkHUJ&sig=hhAUJaDvypjjX_7f-5Bis-DmS6M&hl=en&ei=QbX3SavEGYXuMp_jxMUP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8This has continued, though NOT on the scale of the 1930s:
Assassination of Left Wing leader in 1960:
http://www.worldsfamousphotos.com/assassination-of-japan-socialist-inejiro-asanuma-1960.html 1990 attempted Assassination on Author who reported that Hirohito was NOT a innocent bystander when it came to Japanese Militarism, but its Source:
http://www.nytimes.com/1990/01/19/world/mayor-who-faulted-hirohito-is-shot.htmlAs to worker's rights, the 1953 Nissan Steel Strike was vicious:
Here is a Communist site that mentions the anti-union actions of Japan between 1949 and 1960:
http://www.workers.org/ww/1998/japan0430.phpThe 1960 Coal Strike was even worse, but get even less attention then the 1953 Nissan Strike. In both cases (and in other businesses between 1953 and 1960) any NON-company union were destroyed and their left wing leaders kicked off the job. The McCarthyism was alive and well, but ignored in most history of Japan as told in the west.