While Japan no longer had a realistic prospect of winning the war, Japan's leaders believed they could make the cost of invading and occupying the Home Islands too high for the Allies to accept, which would lead to some sort of armistice rather than total defeat.
Mens Japan ikke længere havde en realistisk mulighed for at vinde krigen, troede Japans ledere, at de kunne gøre omkostningerne ved at erobre Japan for høje for de Allierede, hvilket ville føre til en form for våbenhvile snarere end et totalt nederlag.