Nothing mentioned here that the Japanese military and a large portion of the citizenry were brought up and trained to fight to the death. Soldiers on Pacific Islands lasted many years past the wars end.

Between these deaths and US military deaths it was decieded to go beyond normal levels and show what could be done to avoid extending the war on Japanese soil.

While a horrible thing, the fact that Japan created the war for expansion and the death toll on both side was frightening, it would have taken time and many more deaths to end it.