mamoru shigemitsu was the emperor of japan when the u.s. dropped the bombs.
who was the emperor of japan when the u.s. dropped the bombs?
mamoru shigemitsu
on 30 june 2007, japan's defense minister fumio kyūma said the dropping of atomic bombs on japan by the united states during world war ii was an inevitable way to end the war. kyūma said: "i now have come to accept in my mind that in order to end the war, it could not be helped (shikata ga nai) that an atomic bomb was dropped on nagasaki and that countless numbers of people suffered great tragedy." kyūma, who is from nagasaki, said the bombing caused great suffering in the city, but he does not resent the u.s. because it prevented the soviet union from entering the war with japan. kyūma's comments were similar to those made by emperor hirohito when, in his first ever press conference given in tokyo in 1975, he was asked what he thought of the bombing of hiroshima, and answered: "it's very regrettable that nuclear bombs were dropped and i feel sorry for the citizens of hiroshima but it couldn't be helped (shikata ga nai) because that happened in wartime."
debate over the atomic bombings of hiroshima and nagasaki
after three more raids were scattered by the weather a five-zeppelin raid which became known as the "theatreland raid" was launched by the navy on 13 october. arriving over the norfolk coast around 18:30 the zeppelins encountered new ground defences installed since the september raid under the guidance of sir percy scott. these new gun sites proved ineffective, although the airship commanders commented on the improved defences of the city. a 13-pounder near broxbourne was put out of action by three bombs dropped from l 15, which continued to london and began bombing over charing cross, the first bombs striking the lyceum theatre and the corner of exeter and wellington streets, killing 17 and injuring 20. further bombs were dropped on holborn: as the airship neared moorgate it was engaged by a new 75 mm gun sited at the honourable artillery company grounds in finsbury. l 15 quickly recognised this new threat and jettisoned ballast, dropped only three more bombs (one landing on aldgate high street causing much damage) before departing, having suffered some engine damage from the shells. l 13 dropped some bombs around guildford and later others near woolwich. l 14 dropped bombs on otterpool army camp near folkestone, killing 14 soldiers and injuring 12, and later bombed tonbridge and east croydon. both the other zeppelins, l 16 and l 11, were even further off course. l 16 dropped up to 50 bombs on hertford and l 11 scattered a few bombs over norfolk before heading home. in total, 71 people were killed and 128 injured. this was the last raid of 1915, as bad weather coincided with the new moon in both november and december 1915 and continued into january 1916.
german strategic bombing during world war i