The problem was also the experience from Saipan. There soldiers often used the hiding places of local civilians for a last stand. I have read accounts from civilian survivors, who mentioned mothers being forced to kill their babies, so that the crying baby wouldn’t reveal the position of the hiding place to American troops (obviously, contrary to Japanese horror propaganda, the American soldiers wouldn’t have touched the women or children, this is also what the survivors said, they were surprised on how kindly the American soldiers treated the women and children. Many Japanese women were genuinly afraid of mass rapes and killings, similar how Japanese troops behaved e.g. in China, so they prefered to kill themselves rather than to surrender).
At the end of WWW2, there was also an increasing conflict between the Japanese military leaders, who wanted to fight till the last bullet and then rather kill themselves than to surrender to preserve their “honour” and the civilian part of the government, who wanted to negotiate to get the country out of the war without having it totally ruined.
Emperor Hirohito supported negotiations, he actually tried to involve the Japanese ambassador in Moscow, without knowledge of the military, who would have sabotaged such a motion, but without success. His only requirement for a surrender was that the monarchy would continue to exist.
Mind that Hirohito, even though he was walking around in a uniform, was in reality a scientist (a maritime biologist with a degree, who publisherd his research under a pseudonym) who prefered to be left alone in his laboratories in his palace, where he was working on fish farming issues.
Jan