Last night I watched a program on Story TV about Japan developing an Atomic bomb at the end of WW2. This program originally air in August of 2005. This really caught my eye and curiosity as I'm widely read on the Pacific War (I think I may have died there in a previous life). This is the first that I have ever heard anything about Japan having a serious Nuclear Research project.
Supposedly, the Japanese Army and Navy both had programs to build the bomb. The U.S. spent four years, using over 100,000 people and spent today's equivalent of $38 Trillion dollars to make three operational bombs. According to the program, the Japanese teams were very small but involved some very bright scientists. Even obtaining nuclear materials were extremely difficult as Japan had no uranium ore and eventually obtained the pure U-235 material from other ores containing specks of uranium 238. All of this work seemed to be done on the back of napkins and spare kitchen equipment. They also sourced 200 lbs. of U-235 from the Germans in May 1945 but fortunately, the U-boat that was transporting the (and other Nazi secret weapons) materials surrendered to the Americans in the North Sea as the war ended in Europe. Maybe that is where the US obtained the U-235 for the three US bombs.
The Army Bomb team was stationed at a Tokyo University where it was bombed out during the fire bombings. The Navy team was based in (North) Korea. Supposedly, all documentation regarding U-235 refinement and bomb design was destroyed to prevent the US learning about their research project as they were worried about being charged with war crimes. One of the Japanese scientists emigrated to the US in 1949 as part of Operation Paperclip and taught at University of Arkansas. In his possession were documents that showed how the Japanese projects refined U-235 and basic bomb design. Although a number of "American White" students saw these documents (Yes, in Japanese), only a few articles were printed by the media and this seem to be quickly squashed and not brought to the general American public attention. The researchers found that a couple of the original scientist were alive in Japan. When these documents were shown to the scientists, they first denied any knowledge, but eventually acknowledged the bomb program and talked about their participation and what occurred.
Yada, Yada, Yada!!
What blew me away was an American journalist that had very high ethics, reported that he interviewed a high-ranking Japanese Army Intelligence Officer after the war in Korea, who oversaw the security of Navy bomb team. According to him, at the end of the war, the Japanese High Command knew they could not win the war conventionally and ask the Navy team to tried a test. The Officer revealed that a test was conducted on an island off the coast of (North) Korea in the Sea of Japan. A cold chill went down my back when he stated that their bomb worked!!!! Luckly for us, this occurred in-between our two bomb drops. I don't think they had enough U-235 material for another bomb as I'm sure they would have used it on the Fleet. Instead, Japan surrendered and the Navy team was told to destroy any trace of the project. The bad news was the Soviet's had invaded Korea and eventually found the site. According to witnesses, the Russians took everything there back to Russia including some of the scientists. If this story is true, maybe the already had a bomb design and the Rosenberg's were not all the necessary.
Although there were rumors of Japan's desire for a bomb, this research was never caught by U.S. Intelligence due to American bigotry and superiority attitudes. It was a common theme in the Pacific Theater where US Intelligence personnel "underestimating" the Japanese military and people. The American belief was that "Japanese could never mass the capacity to build a bomb when compared to our effort." Due to the fact the Russia sealed off Korea, we were never able to investigate the Naval site. However, even though the Tokyo bomb lab was "cleaned" by the scientists prior to the US arrival, a special US Army team came in and removed/destroyed every piece of lab equipment and went as far as taking out the 12" concrete lab walls. Obviously, someone in authority thought something was going on there.
What is odd about this show, if true, is threefold
1. Why has this not been brought out to the public before. Did US intel squash all this info? Has anyone seen this program in 2005 or heard of these projects and development before?
2. We/ I have always been told that no NGO i.e. terrorist, would have the knowledge, experience, skills, capability to develop an atomic bomb. Obviously, a small nation can, as North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, and God knows who else has figured it out. Could this mean that Japan already has the capability to build as bomb at any time as they already have nuclear fuel available? This makes me conclude that a well-funded group of skilled and knowledgeable fanatics could well indeed build an atomic bomb/s.
3. U.S. Intelligence has had a history of international failures. Part of this is relying on machines (Spy Satellites, drones, wiretapping, etc.) and less on human intelligence (CIA / FBI / Third party agents in the field, turncoats, internal resistance, etc.) that limits "raw data" and corupts accurate development of "intentions" and allows political/personal bias to effect analysis and interpretation. This is where "Under estimating' and "Over Estimating" can lead to huge failures. Intel organizations Under estimating gave us Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, Six Day War/ Yum Kapour, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, American Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Ukraine/Kuwait invasions, etc. Overestimating gives us an overzealous estimate of Iraqi/Afgan willingness for freedom or German and Post War Soviet military strengths that cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars. A recent story about military procurement corruption in China talked about missiles filled with water and other systems have fatal operational flaws. Someone pointed out that this will set the potential of a military invasion of Taiwan back by 10 years. I have some personal experience on that type of corruption but I wonder if some of this is Chinese military disinformation. If I was planning on invading some country in the near future, like say Taiwan or Japan and had to go up against a peer plus adversary, I would definitely start rumors that my military is in shambles, my Generals are crap and we need to rebuild the military completely. Hey !! No Threat Here!!! During the Cold War, Soviet intelligence used the term "maskirovka" (Russian military deception) to refer to a combination of tactics including disinformation, simulation, camouflage, and concealment when they tried to hide a secret operation or military system. Is the Japanese Atomic Bomb development fake news or another huge U.S. intel blunder and just covered it up to avoid embarrassment. If so and the Japanese were able to build multiple bombs, the war in the Pacific could have ended far differently than history has recorded. I just hope intell agencies are on the ball regarding China, Russia and Iran or we are destined for a world of hurt.
Supposedly, the Japanese Army and Navy both had programs to build the bomb. The U.S. spent four years, using over 100,000 people and spent today's equivalent of $38 Trillion dollars to make three operational bombs. According to the program, the Japanese teams were very small but involved some very bright scientists. Even obtaining nuclear materials were extremely difficult as Japan had no uranium ore and eventually obtained the pure U-235 material from other ores containing specks of uranium 238. All of this work seemed to be done on the back of napkins and spare kitchen equipment. They also sourced 200 lbs. of U-235 from the Germans in May 1945 but fortunately, the U-boat that was transporting the (and other Nazi secret weapons) materials surrendered to the Americans in the North Sea as the war ended in Europe. Maybe that is where the US obtained the U-235 for the three US bombs.
The Army Bomb team was stationed at a Tokyo University where it was bombed out during the fire bombings. The Navy team was based in (North) Korea. Supposedly, all documentation regarding U-235 refinement and bomb design was destroyed to prevent the US learning about their research project as they were worried about being charged with war crimes. One of the Japanese scientists emigrated to the US in 1949 as part of Operation Paperclip and taught at University of Arkansas. In his possession were documents that showed how the Japanese projects refined U-235 and basic bomb design. Although a number of "American White" students saw these documents (Yes, in Japanese), only a few articles were printed by the media and this seem to be quickly squashed and not brought to the general American public attention. The researchers found that a couple of the original scientist were alive in Japan. When these documents were shown to the scientists, they first denied any knowledge, but eventually acknowledged the bomb program and talked about their participation and what occurred.
Yada, Yada, Yada!!
What blew me away was an American journalist that had very high ethics, reported that he interviewed a high-ranking Japanese Army Intelligence Officer after the war in Korea, who oversaw the security of Navy bomb team. According to him, at the end of the war, the Japanese High Command knew they could not win the war conventionally and ask the Navy team to tried a test. The Officer revealed that a test was conducted on an island off the coast of (North) Korea in the Sea of Japan. A cold chill went down my back when he stated that their bomb worked!!!! Luckly for us, this occurred in-between our two bomb drops. I don't think they had enough U-235 material for another bomb as I'm sure they would have used it on the Fleet. Instead, Japan surrendered and the Navy team was told to destroy any trace of the project. The bad news was the Soviet's had invaded Korea and eventually found the site. According to witnesses, the Russians took everything there back to Russia including some of the scientists. If this story is true, maybe the already had a bomb design and the Rosenberg's were not all the necessary.
Although there were rumors of Japan's desire for a bomb, this research was never caught by U.S. Intelligence due to American bigotry and superiority attitudes. It was a common theme in the Pacific Theater where US Intelligence personnel "underestimating" the Japanese military and people. The American belief was that "Japanese could never mass the capacity to build a bomb when compared to our effort." Due to the fact the Russia sealed off Korea, we were never able to investigate the Naval site. However, even though the Tokyo bomb lab was "cleaned" by the scientists prior to the US arrival, a special US Army team came in and removed/destroyed every piece of lab equipment and went as far as taking out the 12" concrete lab walls. Obviously, someone in authority thought something was going on there.
What is odd about this show, if true, is threefold
1. Why has this not been brought out to the public before. Did US intel squash all this info? Has anyone seen this program in 2005 or heard of these projects and development before?
2. We/ I have always been told that no NGO i.e. terrorist, would have the knowledge, experience, skills, capability to develop an atomic bomb. Obviously, a small nation can, as North Korea, Pakistan, Iran, Israel, and God knows who else has figured it out. Could this mean that Japan already has the capability to build as bomb at any time as they already have nuclear fuel available? This makes me conclude that a well-funded group of skilled and knowledgeable fanatics could well indeed build an atomic bomb/s.
3. U.S. Intelligence has had a history of international failures. Part of this is relying on machines (Spy Satellites, drones, wiretapping, etc.) and less on human intelligence (CIA / FBI / Third party agents in the field, turncoats, internal resistance, etc.) that limits "raw data" and corupts accurate development of "intentions" and allows political/personal bias to effect analysis and interpretation. This is where "Under estimating' and "Over Estimating" can lead to huge failures. Intel organizations Under estimating gave us Pearl Harbor, Vietnam, Six Day War/ Yum Kapour, Soviet Invasion of Afghanistan, American Invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, Ukraine/Kuwait invasions, etc. Overestimating gives us an overzealous estimate of Iraqi/Afgan willingness for freedom or German and Post War Soviet military strengths that cost the US hundreds of billions of dollars. A recent story about military procurement corruption in China talked about missiles filled with water and other systems have fatal operational flaws. Someone pointed out that this will set the potential of a military invasion of Taiwan back by 10 years. I have some personal experience on that type of corruption but I wonder if some of this is Chinese military disinformation. If I was planning on invading some country in the near future, like say Taiwan or Japan and had to go up against a peer plus adversary, I would definitely start rumors that my military is in shambles, my Generals are crap and we need to rebuild the military completely. Hey !! No Threat Here!!! During the Cold War, Soviet intelligence used the term "maskirovka" (Russian military deception) to refer to a combination of tactics including disinformation, simulation, camouflage, and concealment when they tried to hide a secret operation or military system. Is the Japanese Atomic Bomb development fake news or another huge U.S. intel blunder and just covered it up to avoid embarrassment. If so and the Japanese were able to build multiple bombs, the war in the Pacific could have ended far differently than history has recorded. I just hope intell agencies are on the ball regarding China, Russia and Iran or we are destined for a world of hurt.
