Tojo himself was replaced as Prime Minister sometime in 1944. If I said he was still in direct command at the end of the war I misspoke. And he and others did 'fall on their swords' at the end of the war and colloborate in the American & Japanese conspiracy to absolve Hirohito of all blame, since the Americans had decided that he was a necessary component of a peaceful occupation of Japan. But that doesn't mean those same military leaders were willing to surrender unconditionally and face the noose before the atomic bombs proved that they could not fight on even futilely.
As to why Japan attacked the United States, it was sheer lunacy. The Imperial Army believed they could defeat any foe (they even managed to convince themselves that General Zhukov hadn't handed them their heads at Nomohan a few years before). The Imperial Navy had wiser, more wordly, and less religiously fanatical leaders like Yamamoto who knew war with the United States was insane, but the Army controlled the Emperor. I was told by a history teacher in Japan that the Army and Navy headquarters in Tokyo had tanks and machine gun emplacements before the war - to protect from eachother! Sounds a little like the Health and Education Ministeries in Bagdad. Anyway, Japan 'needed' to go to war with the Dutch to recolonize the East Indies and take the oil. They also decided to go after the United States and Britain and Australia for some reason, I guess they thought we would come to the aid of the British even though we weren't at war with the Germans who were bombing London!
As to whether Americans cared about Koreans and Chinese, I disagree. The (fictional) heroic resistence of Chang Kai-shek was idolized in America, and the Rape of Nanjing and bombing of Chinese cities horrified Americans before we were ever at war with Japan. In fact, as you pointed out, we cut off their oil and scrap metal supplies. We also sent the magnificant "Flying Tigers" to help defend China. So I don't think it's true that America cared nothing for Chinese lives (honestly most Americans had probably never heard of Korea). I'll believe that saving Chinese lives didn't figure much into the equation, and that saving hundreds of thousands of American lives was much more important to Truman than saving millions of Japanese. But that doesn't matter either, the question is whether those lives were saved by the atomic bombs, not whether the desire to save them contributed to their use. I admire Harry Truman so I hope he gave a damn about all those people, but it's the actions that determined if they lived or died.
As for Total War, I guess it's fair to say that white Europeans (including Americans) hadn't practiced it against eachother, although we sure did it to native populations, America to the Indians and the Europeans to the native populations of many colonized areas. And Stalin and Hitler had already begun waging Total War on certain fo their own people . . .
Here's what Wikipedia says about the hardliner revolt, from the article "Surrender of Japan"
Military reaction
Late on the night of August 12, 1945, Major Hatanaka Kenji, along with Lieutenant Colonels Ida Masataka, Takehorsehockya Masahiko, and Inaba Masao, and Colonel Arao Okitsugu, the Chief of the Military Affairs Section, spoke to War Minister Anami Korechika, hoping for his support, and asking him to do whatever he could to prevent acceptance of the Potsdam Declaration. General Anami refused to say whether he would or would not help the young officers in treason. As much as they needed his support, Hatanaka and the other rebels decided they had no choice but to continue planning and to pull off the 'coup' on their own.
Hatanaka spent much of the 13th and the morning of the 14th gathering allies, seeking support from the higher-ups in the Ministry, and of course perfecting his plot. Around 9:30 on the night of the 14th, Hatanaka's rebels set their plan into motion. The Second Regiment of the First Imperial Guards had entered the palace grounds, doubling the strength of the battalion already stationed there, presumably to provide extra protection against Hatanaka's rebellion. However, Hatanaka, along with Lt. Col. Shiizaki Jiro, now convinced the commander of the 2nd Regiment of the First Imperial Guards, Colonel Haga Toyojiro, of their cause, and (untruthfully) that the War Minister, Army Chief of Staff, and the commanders of the Eastern District Army and Imperial Guards Divisions were all in on the plan.
Originally, Hatanaka hoped that by simply occupying the Palace, by simply showing the beginnings of a rebellion, the rest of the Army would be inspired and would rise up against the move to surrender. This philosophy guided him through much of the last days and hours, and gave him the blind optimism to move ahead with the plan, despite having little support from his superiors. Having set all the pieces into position, Hatanaka and his co-conspirators decided that the Guard would take over the Palace at 2 AM. The hours until then were spent in continued attempts to convince their superiors in the Army to join the 'coup'. At about the same time, General Anami committed seppuku, leaving a message that, "I—with my death—humbly apologize to the Emperor for the great crime." Whether the crime involved losing the war, or the coup, remains unclear.
At some time after one o'clock that morning, Hatanaka killed Lt. General Mori Takeshi, Commander of the 1st Imperial Guards Division, when Mori refused to side with him. Hatanaka feared that Mori would order the Guards to stop the rebellion. Lt. Col. Shiizaki and Captain Uehara Shigetaro of the Air Force Academy were also present in the room, and Uehara is presumed to have killed Lt. Col. Shiraishi Michinori, Staff Officer of the 2nd General Army. These were the only two murders of the night. Hatanaka then used General Mori's official stamp to authorize Strategic Order No. 584, a false set of orders created by his co-conspirators, which would greatly increase the strength of the forces occupying the Imperial Palace and Imperial House Ministry, and "protecting" the Emperor. The Palace police were disarmed, and all the entrances blocked; but as of yet, no one in the Imperial House Ministry was aware of what was transpiring. Over the course of the night, Hatanaka's rebels captured and detained eighteen people, including Ministry staff, and NHK workers sent to record the surrender speech.
The rebels, led by Hatanaka, spent the next several hours searching for the Imperial House Minister, the Lord of the Privy Seal, and the recordings of the surrender speech. They never found the recordings, which were hidden among pieces of bedding in an emergency cupboard. The search was made more difficult not only by a blackout, caused by Allied bombings, but also by the archaic organization and layout of the Imperial House Ministry. Many of the rooms' names were unrecognizable to the rebels. During their search, the rebels cut nearly all of the telephone wires, severing communications between their prisoners on the Palace Grounds and the outside world.
Around 3 AM, Hatanaka was informed by Lt Col Ida that the Eastern District Army was on its way to the Palace to stop him, and that he should simply give up. Finally, seeing his plan crumbling to pieces around him, Hatanaka tried to plead with the Chief of Staff of the Eastern District Army to be given at least ten minutes on the air (on NHK radio), to explain to the people of Japan what he was trying to accomplish and why. He was refused. Colonel Haga, commander of the 2nd Regiment of the First Imperial Guards, now discovered that the Army was not, in fact, in support of this rebellion, and he ordered Hatanaka to leave the Palace Grounds.
Just before five in the morning, as his rebellion continued its search, Major Hatanaka went to NHK studios, and, brandishing a pistol, tried desperately to get some airtime, to explain his actions. A little over an hour later, after receiving a phone call from the Eastern District Army, Hatanaka finally gave up. He gathered his officers, and walked out of the NHK studio.
By 8 AM, the rebellion was entirely dismantled, having succeeded in holding the Palace Grounds for much of the night, but ultimately failing to find the recordings. Hatanaka, on a motorcycle, and Lt. Col. Shiizaki on horseback, rode through the streets, tossing leaflets that explained their motives, and their actions.
Within an hour before the Emperor's broadcast, sometime around 11 AM, August 15, Major Hatanaka placed his pistol to his forehead, and pulled the trigger. In his pocket was found his death poem: "I have nothing to regret now that the dark clouds have disappeared from the reign of the Emperor."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Surrender_of_Japan
