"one Simon, whose surname is Peter" - Toyota and GM

Sumida River, Tokyo

Toyota and GM

In 1999 when Japan was in the early stage of its 15-year deflation, Toyota sold cars only about half the amount GM sold.

 http://gajendratawade.weebly.com/1/post/2009/12/post-title-click-and-type-to-edit1.html


But before the Lehman Shock Toyota caught up with GM in a neck-to neck race.  It was partly due to the yen-dollar exchange rate mostly over 100 yen per dollar, meaning the weaker yen, despite deflation in Japan.

Indeed, deflation in Japan was a factor for possibly pushing up the yen stronger against the US dollar, but the rate was mostly over 100 yen per dollar since the US financial power was regraded as so strong, and the Japanese Government purchased so many of US Treasury bonds.  But Lehman shock changed this paradigm.
 

http://money.cnn.com/2011/06/13/news/companies/global_auto_sales_race/index.htm

Specifically after 2009, Japan came to suffer extremely strong yen, 90 to 80 yen per dollar.  In addition to the crash of the US economy, Toyota's sales dropped with GM's.  No significant lead of Toyota was observed after the 2008 Lehman Shock.

But due to Abenomics, this exchange rate has been greatly corrected to 99 yen per dollar.  Accordingly we may see soon the effect of this exchange rate on global sales of Toyota cars and other Japanese exported products.

Incidentally, it is also said that Korean makers have enjoyed in these years exchange rates very favorable for their exporting businesses.

And one thing to be noted is that Japanese have not been kicking around in these 15 years of deflation or stagnation of growth of its GDP as shown by Toyota.  Japanese have been working very hard as before.  But its economy have not shown any remarkable expansion.  Japan's GDP has been almost flat in its trend in these 15 years due to the very complicated deflation.

Finally some economists of Japan succeeded to persuade Prime Minister Abe and Governor of the Bank of Japan Kuroda that if the Bank of Japan purchased Japanese Government bonds circulated in the market in a larger amount than the former Governor of BOJ had did, the exchange rate of the yen against the US dollar would go down, leading to improvement of Japanese export.  Consequently, even the stock price index of the Tokyo Stock Exchange has been boosted by 80%.

Nonetheless the decision by PM Abe to increase the consumption tax rate from 5% to 8% in the next spring is regraded as an ominous factor for weakening of the Japanese economy.  It might even cause the yen to get stronger again.  The overall result might also appear in the statistics of car production of Toyota.    



*** *** *** ***


Act 10:3 He saw in a vision evidently about the ninth hour of the day an angel of God coming in to him, and saying unto him, Cornelius.
Act 10:4 And when he looked on him, he was afraid, and said, What is it, Lord? And he said unto him, Thy prayers and thine alms are come up for a memorial before God.
Act 10:5 And now send men to Joppa, and call for one Simon, whose surname is Peter:
Act 10:6 He lodgeth with one Simon a tanner, whose house is by the sea side: he shall tell thee what thou oughtest to do.
Act 10:7 And when the angel which spake unto Cornelius was departed, he called two of his household servants, and a devout soldier of them that waited on him continually;
Act 10:8 And when he had declared all these things unto them, he sent them to Joppa.

"God is not in all his thoughts" - Money for Marx and Shakespeare

Tokyo toward Tokyo Bay

Money for Marx and Shakespeare

People don't think of what money is.  But people try to get money.

However money is used by complicated entities, men, in complicated situations of complicated society, at least as a possibility.

Karl Marx
Economic and Philosophic Manuscripts of 1844
...
The Power of Money

By possessing the property of buying everything, by possessing the property of appropriating all objects, money is thus the object of eminent possession. The universality of its property is the omnipotence of its being. It is therefore regarded as an omnipotent being. Money is the procurer between man’s need and the object, between his life and his means of life. But that which mediates my life for me, also mediates the existence of other people for me. For me it is the other person. 

“What, man! confound it, hands and feet
And head and backside, all are yours!
And what we take while life is sweet,
Is that to be declared not ours?  

“Six stallions, say, I can afford,
Is not their strength my property?
I tear along, a sporting lord,
As if their legs belonged to me.”
Goethe: Faust (Mephistopheles)

Shakespeare in Timon of Athens: 

“Gold? Yellow, glittering, precious gold?
No, Gods, I am no idle votarist! ...
Thus much of this will make black white, foul fair,
Wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant.
... Why, this
Will lug your priests and servants from your sides,
Pluck stout men’s pillows from below their heads:
This yellow slave
Will knit and break religions, bless the accursed;
Make the hoar leprosy adored, place thieves
And give them title, knee and approbation
With senators on the bench: This is it
That makes the wappen’d widow wed again;
She, whom the spital-house and ulcerous sores
Would cast the gorge at, this embalms and spices
To the April day again. Come, damned earth,
Thou common whore of mankind, that put’st odds
Among the rout of nations.”

... 

If money is the bond binding me to human life, binding society to me, connecting me with nature and man, is not money the bond of all bonds? Can it not dissolve and bind all ties? Is it not, therefore, also the universal agent of separation? It is the coin that really separates as well as the real binding agent – the [...] [One word in the manuscript cannot be deciphered. – Ed.] chemical power of society. 

Shakespeare stresses especially two properties of money: 

1. It is the visible divinity – the transformation of all human and natural properties into their contraries, the universal confounding and distorting of things: impossibilities are soldered together by it. 

2. It is the common whore, the common procurer of people and nations. 

The distorting and confounding of all human and natural qualities, the fraternisation of impossibilities – the divine power of money – lies in its character as men’s estranged, alienating and self-disposing species-nature. Money is the alienated ability of mankind. 

That which I am unable to do as a man, and of which therefore all my individual essential powers are incapable, I am able to do by means of money. Money thus turns each of these powers into something which in itself it is not – turns it, that is, into its contrary.
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1844/manuscripts/power.htm

To get money you have to do something.  You have to act legally or work, or you have to act illegally or commit a crime.  You have to do such a thing with good will or good intentions, or otherwise you will do such a thing with ill will or malice.

If everybody acts  legally or work with good will or good intentions to earn money, there will be no needs for communism.

And if all the people are just bad and so bad, no matter what they think about money, it will not make this world better.

The key is not money but our mind.  It is so, since we can even abolish money following our philosophy or religion.





*** *** *** ***


Psa 10:3 For the wicked boasteth of his heart's desire, and blesseth the covetous, whom the LORD abhorreth.
Psa 10:4 The wicked, through the pride of his countenance, will not seek after God: God is not in all his thoughts.

"Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus" - Holy Era of History

Tokyo Views toward North

Holy Era of History

There is a little symmetry in history.

Before 60 years of the birth of Christ, Jerusalem was conquered and taken by Roman troops.  Almost after 60 years of the birth of Christ, Jerusalem was destroyed and taken by Roman troops.

Before 30 years of  the birth of Christ, Antony and Cleopatra died.  Almost 30 years after the nominal birth of Christ, Christ died.

11th century BC–930 BC — part of the Kingdom of Israel

930–586 BC — Kingdom of Judah

586–539 BC — Babylonian Empire

539–332 BC — Persian Empire

332 BC: Alexander the Great wins siege of Tyre; attacks Gaza, which fall.  Jerusalem and Judea fell under Greek control and Hellenic influence. After the Wars of the Diadochi following Alexander's death, Jerusalem and Judea fell under Ptolemaic control under Ptolemy I and continued minting Yehud coinage.

305–198 BC — Ptolemaics

198–141 BC — Seleucids

141–37 BC — The Hasmonean state in Israel established by the Maccabees, after 63 BCE under Roman supremacy

63 BC: Pompey captures Jerusalem, and establishes Roman annexation of Judea as a client kingdom. He also permanently abolishes Seleucid Syria. King Judah Aristobulus II removed from power, while his brother John Hyrcanus II becomes king under Roman suzerainty.

48 BC: Julius Caesar was engaged in a civil war with another Roman leader, Pompey. Pompey had been defeated in a battle and fled to Egypt. Caesar was pursuing him but Pompey was assassinated upon his arrival in Egypt before Caesar arrived in Egypt. Caesar was left with idle time. 

Cleopatra arranges to meet Caesar under intimate terms by having herself rolled up in a carpet that is delivered to Caesar's home quarters. When the carpet was unrolled a vivacious 21 year old Egyptian queen emerges. Caesar was about 52 at the time.

46 BC: Cleopatra gives birth to Caesar's child, a boy who is named Ptolemy Caesar and called Caesarion.

45 BC: Cleopatra joins Caesar in Rome. Her brother/husband Ptolemy XIV accompanies her. Cleopatra and Ptolemy XIV are housed in a villa belonging to Caesar on the outskirts of Rome. Caesar orders that a gold-plated statue of Cleopatra be placed in the temple of Venus Genetrix. Caesar's clan, the Julians, were supposedly descended from Venus.

44 BC: March 15, Caesar murdered by Brutus, Cassius, and their co-conspirators acting for the Republicans. Octavian returns from Greece.

40 BC Herod is appointed as king of Judaea by the Senate.
(40 BC–4 BC: Herod the Great, appointed King of the Jews by the Roman Senate.)

37 BC: Herod the Great captured Jerusalem, ending Hasmonean rule. Herod ruled the Province of Judea as a client-king of the Romans, rebuilt the Second Temple (see also Herod's Temple), upgraded the surrounding complex, and expanded the minting of coins to many denominations. 

Antony marries Cleopatra at Antioch.

30 BC: Death of Antony and Cleopatra in Alexandria.  Egypt is annexed as an imperial province of Rome.

27 BC: The Roman Senate votes Octavian the title of Augustus. Augustus eventually assumes all authority formerly held by the Roman senate becoming the first emperor. The Roman state is henceforth known as the Roman Empire, and the period from 27 BC to AD 305 as the Principate.

20 BC: Reconstruction on the Great Temple in Jerusalem is begun by King Herod Agrippa.

15 BC: Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, son-in-law of Emperor Augustus visits Jerusalem and offers a hecatomb in the temple.  

6 BC: John the Baptist is born in Ein Kerem to Zechariah and Elizabeth. 

6– 4 BC: Birth of Jesus of Nazareth 

5 BC: Presentation of Jesus at the Temple, 40 days after his birth in Bethlehem (Biblical sources only).

0 AD: Traditional Date of the Birth of Jesus.

6 AD: End of Herodian governorate in Jerusalem.
Province of Roman Judaea created by merging Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea.

14-37 AD: Tiberius, Roman Emperor

26-36 AD: Pontius Pilate prefect of Roman Judea during the Crucifixion of Jesus.
Pontius Pilate, Prefect (governor) of Iudaea, recalled to Rome by Syrian Legate Vitellius on complaints of excess violence (JA18.4.2).

28 or 29 AD: John the Baptist began his ministry in the "15th year of Tiberius" (Luke 3:1–2), saying: "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:1–2), a relative of Jesus (Luke 1:36), a Nazirite (Luke 1:15), baptized Jesus (Mark 1:4–11), later arrested and beheaded by Herod Antipas (Luke 3:19–20), it's possible that, according to Josephus' chronology, John was not killed until 36 (JA18.5.2)[4].

28-30 AD: Three year Ministry of Jesus, during which a number of key events took place in Jerusalem, including: (Biblical sources only).

30 AD: Key events in the martyrdom of Jesus which took place in Jerusalem (Biblical sources only).

30-64 AD: Peter served as the first pope.

30–70 AD: Schism within Judaism during the Second Temple era. A sect within Hellenised Jewish society starts Jewish Christianity, see also Rejection of Jesus.

44 AD: Death of Herod Agrippa I.

48-100 AD: Herod Agrippa II appointed King of the Jews by Claudius, seventh and last of the Herodians.

50 AD: Passover riot in Jerusalem, 20-30,000 killed.

60? AD: Paul in Rome: greeted by many "brothers."

64-68 AD:  After July 18 Great Fire of Rome, Nero blamed and persecuted the Christians (or Chrestians[13]), possibly the earliest mention of Christians, by that name, in Rome.

64/67(?)-76/79(?) AD: Pope Linus succeeds Peter as Episcopus Romanus (Bishop of Rome).

66–70 AD: The Great Jewish Revolt against Roman occupation ended with destruction of the Second Temple and the fall of Jerusalem. 1,100,000 people are killed by the Romans during the siege, and 97,000 captured and enslaved.

326: Emperor Constantine built Basilica over St. Peter’s tomb.

590 - 604: Pope Gregory established popes as de facto rules of central Italy.

1475: Pope Sixtus IV built Sistine Chapel, Sixtus Bridge over the Tiber River.

1521: Martin Luther excommunicated from Roman Catholic Church by Pope Leo X.

1626: St. Peter’s Cathedral consecrated.

1823: St. Peter's Basilica destroyed by fire.

1825: St. Peter's Basilica reconstructed in time for Holy Year.

http://www.unrv.com/empire/roman-timeline-1st-century.php
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1st_century_BC
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jerusalem
http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/alexander/a/Alexander_3.htm
http://www.sjsu.edu/faculty/watkins/cleopatra.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Jewish_history
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_Christianity
http://www.datesandevents.org/people-timelines/36-timeline-of-jesus.htm
http://www.worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/europe/vatican/vatimeln.htm

Note that those who saw Cleopatra acting as Queen of Egypt could not most probably see Christ Jesus preaching around Galilee and Jerusalem.  They belong to different eras apparently.

This sequence can be also applied to the present era around 2000.  About 60 years before 2000, WWII ended with Hiroshima/Nagasaki atomic bomb attacks.

Caesar was killed 44 years before 0 AD and Cleopatra and Antony died 30 years before the change of the history.  But JFK was assassinated 37 years and RFK and MLK were killed 32 two years before 2000.  

Accordingly, we had better get prepared for 2030 and 2060, since something terrible might occur.






*** *** *** ***


Mat 10:2 Now the names of the twelve apostles are these; The first, Simon, who is called Peter, and Andrew his brother; James the son of Zebedee, and John his brother;
Mat 10:3 Philip, and Bartholomew; Thomas, and Matthew the publican; James the son of Alphaeus, and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Mat 10:4 Simon the Canaanite, and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him.
Mat 10:5 These twelve Jesus sent forth, and commanded them, saying, Go not into the way of the Gentiles, and into any city of the Samaritans enter ye not:
Mat 10:6 But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.

"Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife" - Corruption of China

Around Ikebukuro Streets, Tokyo

Corruption of China

The Chinese Government announced that the Gini coefficient of China in 2012 was 0.474.

The standard value of this coefficient in an ordinary advanced country under democracy is about 0.35.  Japan's Gini coefficient was 0.336 in fiscal 2010.

It is said that the society featured by a Gini coefficient of 0.4 or more is at risk of unrest or lack of stability.

Truly in these 20 years, 20,000 high-ranking officials of China have fled to foreign countries, transferring assets of about $100 billion to overseas.  It is $12 million per official.

In this decade, 1.2 million public office workers of China sent their children to foreign countries as the first step of transferring their assets to overseas.

Indeed Hillary Clinton said in a recent speech at Harvard University that 90% of families of Chinese elite bureaucrats and 80% of Chinese wealthy people have already filed or intend to file immigration claims to foreign countries.

In fact Chinese law enforcement authorities arrested more than 140,000 officials for bribery, graft or other crimes in fiscal 2011.

You should not envy China.



*** *** *** ***


Mar 10:2 And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him.
Mar 10:3 And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you?

"the LORD appointed other seventy" - Global Homelessness

Part of Tokyo Metropolitan Area 

Global Homelessness

Let's check states of homelessness in the world.

First the US:

Despite a housing crisis, a great recession, rising income inequality, and elevated poverty, there is some good news among the most vulnerable segment of American society. America’s homeless population – an estimated 633,000 people – has declined in the last decade. 

This seems incredible – perhaps literally, so. The National Alliance to End Homelessness, a leader in homelessness service and research, estimates a 17% decrease in total homelessness from 2005 to 2012. As a refresher: this covers a period when unemployment doubled (2007-2010) and foreclosure proceedings quadrupled (2005-2009).
... 

The decline of homelessness over the past eight years is nothing short of a blue-moon public policy triumph. Why don’t you know about it? 

Could it be because we’d prefer not to hear about it? For the fortunate, one’s daily interaction with the homeless is practiced ignorance. Part of any city-dweller’s habit is to swiftly pass those on the street, averting one’s eyes, or perhaps floating a statement about not having any change on you. In a Gallup poll from early August, just 2 percent of respondents said that the category of “Poverty/Hunger/Homelessness” constituted “the most important problem facing this country today.” 

Unlike the jobs report, there is no famous, metronomic update on the state of homelessness in America. The “Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress” of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development is a front-page rarity. Since its first iteration in 2007, the report that collects information on homelessness nationwide, has been mentioned in one article of the archives of both the New York Times and Washington Post, combined. Coverage of homeless issues—found extensively in the “street papers” produced in many cities like Chicago’s Streetwise—is just not a topic that catches attention for wider audiences. 

http://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2013/08/the-astonishing-decline-of-homelessness-in-america/279050/

Then England:

Statutory Homelessness:
April to June Quarter 2013
England  

Household acceptances  

• 13,460 applicants were accepted as owed a main homelessness duty between 1 April and 30 June 2013, 5 per cent higher than during the same quarter of 2012.  

• On a seasonally-adjusted basis, there were 13,550 acceptances, an increase of 1 per cent from 13,380 in the previous quarter.  

Households in temporary accommodation  

• 56,210 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 June 2013, 9 per cent higher than at the same date in 2012.  

• On a seasonally-adjusted basis, 56,060 households were in temporary accommodation on 30 June, a 1 per cent increase from 55,250 in the previous quarter 

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/236899/PROTECT_-_Statutory_Homelessness_2nd_Quarter__Apr_-_Jun__2013_England.pdf

France:

Homelessness reaching crisis levels in France 

For more than 130,000 French citizens, the roads are where they live and sleep.

For decades, the homeless in France were single men, living beyond the borders of society.
But that has now been changed as a result of a four-year long economic crisis.

The housing shortages have led to demonstrations in Paris.
Under French law, tenants cannot be thrown out onto the streets between November and March when winter sweeps through the country.
But come April and they are back on the streets: a problem that’s becoming bigger with each passing year.  

Meanwhile, in the posh districts of French cities, tens of thousands of apartments have been lying vacant for almost an entire year.  

It is in the rich neighborhoods like this one where the French government says it wants to take over empty apartments and then give them to the homeless to solve the housing crisis. But charities say, it is easier said than done.  

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/06/25/310832/homelessness-reaching-crisis-levels-in-france/

Germany:

Up to 4,000 homeless in Berlin 

According to estimates, there are up to 4,000 homeless people in Berlin. Some can be easily spotted. But with many others, there's no way of telling they live on the streets, because they don't fulfill the stereotype of a shabby hobo. Most citizens or tourists don't even notice, or they don't pay attention to them. 

That was one reason for Berlin-based Sally Ollech and Katharina Kühn to initiate the project "Querstadtein." Just like in cities like Copenhagen or London, Berlin now offers city tours focusing on the homeless. The idea is to help overcome prejudices and reservations. 

http://www.dw.de/berlin-through-the-eyes-of-the-homeless/a-17014920 

Germany
An estimated 254,000 people are homeless in Germany
Approximately 25% are women
Approximately 11% are children and young people
Source: European Federation of National organisations working with the Homeless (FIANCE)
http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics

And Others:

Australia
100,000 people sleep on the streets of Australia everyday
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2003.
An estimated 105,000 people are homeless in Australia.
Approximately 44% of homeless people in Australia are female
Approximately 12% of homeless people in Australia are children under the age of 12 

Source: http://www.homelessnessaustralia.org.au, 2009

Brazil
In Brazil, there is a deficit of 6.6 Million housing units, equalling 20 million homeless people, who live in favelas, shared clandestine rooms, hovels or under bridges and viaducts, or are squatters, in some of the country's largest cities
Source: Brazil 2000 census
An estimated 2,500 people are homeless in Rio de Janiero
An estimated 10,000 people sleep rough in Sao Paulo
Half of the population of Sao Paulo live in informal shelter 

Source: Brazil’s Economic Research Institute Foundation, 2003

Japan
An estimated 25,296 people are homeless in Japan
An estimated 5,000 people are homeless in Tokyo             

Source: www.street-papers.org/case-studies-asia, 2006

Greece
Homelessness in Greece has risen from 17,000 in 2009 to 20,000 in 2010
An estimated 9,000 people are homeless in Athens 

Source: European Observatory on Homelessness            

Hong Kong
52.7% of homeless people are aged 49 or over in Hong Kong
18% of homeless people have not received a formal education in Hong Kong. 

Source: Project on Helping Street Sleepers - Paper of LegCo Welfare Panel (2004) 

http://www.homelessworldcup.org/content/homelessness-statistics







*** *** *** ***


Luk 10:1 After these things the LORD appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come.

"yet he hath opened mine eyes" - Were Hiroshima/Nagasaki Attacks Necessary

Tokyo Views toward East 

Were Hiroshima/Nagasaki Attacks Necessary

The most significant incident in the 20th century is, as widely admitted, the atomic bomb attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the US Air Force.

But people in the world still misunderstand the backgrounds of this incident.

First, it is true that the Empire of Japan were prepared for the battle to the finish on Japan's mainland in the summer of 1945.  For this purpose, the Imperial Army and Navy still kept 5,000 military planes for expected kamikaze missions.  Most of those planes were not allowed to fly and engage in air battles against B29s and other American military planes attacking Japanese cities.  Japanese generals rather accepted US air raids without using Japanese fighter planes to encounter them in the air over the Japanese Archipelago.  Some limited number of fighter planes and anti-aircraft artillery were measures the Imperial military took to defend Japanese citizens from American air raids (which was why the B29 carrying atomic bomb could easily penetrate in the Japanese sky).

What is more, Japanese war leaders desperately prepared three million soldiers and armed civilians for the decisive battle, though they were not so well equipped with sufficient weapons.  But if the US Government had promised that the Emperor of Japan would be allowed to keep his status and the imperial system as a political framework of Japan would be secured, the Imperial military of Japan would have soon stopped act of war.  If so, as often said, tens of thousands of lives of US soldiers would be saved and secured mainly from crazy kamikaze attacks.
  　　
Nonetheless the US Government led by President Truman decided not to make such a promise but use atomic (or nuclear) bombs on Japanese cities.  And the reason for this strategic decision was not only related to military conditions on this last stage of WWII but also involving concerns about international politics after WWII, namely conflicts between western democracy and the Soviet Union-based communism.  

Anyway, an atomic bomb attack carried out on August 6 and August 9, respectively.

In another aspect of the war, the Potsdam Declaration had been prepared and issued by leaders of the US, the UK and China on July 26, 1945.  This Declaration requested the Empire of Japan to surrender unconditionally.

Leader of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin was also present at the Potsdam Conference held near Berlin though the USSR did not yet declare war against the Empire of Japan at the time.  Before this Conference, Harry Truman of the US President wanted the USSR to renounce the Soviet–Japanese Neutrality Pact and start attacks on the Imperial Army of Japan in Manchuria, Sakhalin, and the Kuril Islands to accelerate the end of the war without more sacrifices on the American side.  So, Truman rather behaved humbly before Stalin.

But, of course, Truman did not like to see expansion of influences of Russian communists into the Far East.  So, when the vice-president-turned US President Truman heard a flash report from Los Alamos, New Mexico, that a nuclear bomb test, the first for mankind, succeeded, he was glad that the US alone could put an end to the war against the Empire of Japan without help from the Soviet Union.  Now Truman did not have to behave humbly before communist Stalin.  Truman actually suggested to Stalin that the US had obtained a new type of destructive bombs.  Stalin did not look like being impressed.  But he urged his generals to launch attacks on Imperial Japanese troops stationed in Manchuria though Stalin first said to Truman that Soviet troops would start firing on August 15.  

Stalin must have thought that the US would not need help from the communist country USSR to make Japanese military forces surrender now that the US had atomic bombs.  Then the USSR could not get Manchuria or other territories now occupied by the Empire of Japan.  Accordingly in order to acquire any reward for entry into the war, the USSR began to advance its troops over the border of Manchukuo on August 9 when Nagasaki was attacked by another nuclear bomb.

The general judgment by American experts on Japan in this period of time, namely the early summer of 1945, was that the Empire of Japan, except fanatical generals and officers, now wanted to end the war.  Japanese leaders must have known that they had no chance to stop the offensive by the US military.  Japanese troops retreated from the Philippine; they were completely defeated in Iwojima Island; and Okinawa, part of essential regions of the Empire, was finally conquered by US troops despite sever air raids on US ships and troops by kamikaze planes of the Imperial military.

However, American experts knew that the Empire of Japan could not unconditionally surrender.  They had to preserve the Imperial system, the core of the nation Japan.  Conversely, if the US promised that it would allow the empire of Japan to continue his reign over his people, Truman could make the Imperial Government in Tokyo rather quickly surrender without military help from the USSR.  But Truman did not take such advice but requested Tokyo to surrender unconditionally through the Potsdam Declaration before Hirsohima/Nagaski attacks.

The key to understanding why Truman and other US leaders were definitely determined to drop atomic bombs on Japan lies in their view on the Soviet Union.  Those American politicians thought that after WWII the USSR would try to further spread communism in the world, thus getting into stark conflict with the US.  Further if Stalin thought that his troops finally put an end to the war the Empire of Japan had started with the Pearl Harbor Attack, he would take a more aggressive and arrogant stance against the US after WWII.  Therefore Truman had to use atomic bombs on Japan so as to show Stalin the superior military capability of the US.

That is why Truman did not follow advice from experts on Japan who claimed that Tokyo would soon surrender if Japanese politicians had been convinced that the Emperor could be intact and the imperial system would be secured as the framework of the nation Japan. Conversely, if Truman did not admit this special care about the Emperor, Japanese generals and soldiers would fight till the real end through battles on the mainland Japan.  Then, he could justify his use of atomic bombs, and Stalin should be surprised by power of this new type of bombs and Soviet-Union leaders would be afraid of America.  As a result the US could  stop expansion of communism in the world.

For this purpose, Truman did not include any conditions on preservation of the imperial system in the Potsdam Declaration, which Tokyo so wanted, but posed the Declaration demanding unconditional surrender from Tokyo.  It was intended to take this opportunity to use the atomic bombs not only for destroying persistent resistance by the Imperial troops but also for putting the power of nuclear bombs on a show for the USSR.    

So, why was it necessary to use atomic bombs while the Empire of Japan lost most of its war capability and the Soviet Union was about to join allied forces on the Pacific Theater of WWII?  The answer is that the Empire of Japan had still military power to kill tens of thousands of US soldiers on Japan's mainland and the communist Soviet Union must be suppressed militarily by capitalist/democratic America.

Finally, after the dropping of atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the US Government did not take a clear stance in requesting unconditional surrender of the Imperial military of Japan.  Tokyo tried to confirm that the Emperor could be exempted from US retaliation after WWII, meaning that the imperial system could be left untouched despite the conditions specified in the Potsdam Declaration.  In response, the US Government simply said that the Emperor would be subject to the supreme commander of the allied forces, namely General MacArthur.

Accordingly, political leaders in Tokyo, including the Emperor himself, understood that the emperor would not be persecuted and the imperial regime would not be abolished by the US military forces expected to land on Japan.  So, the Emperor and the Imperial Government decided to surrender on August 14, 1945, Japan Time.  The Emperor himself announced to all the Japanese people through radio transmission that the imperial military must cease fire immediately at noon of August 15.  (It was the first experience of hearing the Emperor speaking for ordinary Japanese people.)  Consequently, August 15 is officially regraded today as the day when WWII ended for Japan.

http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%AC%AC%E4%BA%8C%E6%AC%A1%E4%B8%96%E7%95%8C%E5%A4%A7%E6%88%A6
The Pacific Theater of WWII



*** *** *** ***



Joh 9:28 Then they reviled him, and said, Thou art his disciple; but we are Moses' disciples.
Joh 9:29 We know that God spake unto Moses: as for this fellow, we know not from whence he is.
Joh 9:30 The man answered and said unto them, Why herein is a marvellous thing, that ye know not from whence he is, and yet he hath opened mine eyes.
Joh 9:31 Now we know that God heareth not sinners: but if any man be a worshipper of God, and doeth his will, him he heareth.