14. The Americans dropped leaflets warning the Japanese people of bombings
During the war, the B-29 raids, which increased over the summer of 1945 and were to increase further in the buildup for Operation Downfall, were preceded by warnings. Leaflets which came to be known as Lemay Leaflets were dropped on Japanese cities warning them of impending bombing raids and reminding them that the Americans were at war with the “military clique” and not the Japanese people. The leaflets were necessary because Japan’s war machinery was located within residential communities, surrounded by homes, shops, and schools. The leaflets reminded the Japanese that the Americans did not “…wish to injure innocent people.”
Similar leaflets were dropped over Japanese cities warning of the atomic bomb and the destructive power which was about to be released on the Japanese, though not specifying the cities to be targeted with an atomic attack. Following the Hiroshima bombing, leaflets were dropped which told the Japanese to enquire as to the damage caused by the single bomb, while warning of further bombings to follow. The leaflets were contraband among the Japanese and were the target of further propaganda to counter their message, which was that the Americans weren’t quite the monsters the Japanese leadership made them out to be.