Did the Japanese deserve the Atomic Bomb?

An American friend prompted by the film “Oppenheimer” has circulated a 2020 article 'What journalists should know about the atomic bombings' by a nuclear historian, Alex Wellerstein, which provides in my freind's opinion, a rundown of the “decision” to drop the atomic bombs, with an overview of the historical debates and some suggestions for deeper reading.
Link: What journalists should know about the atomic bombings

I know I posted on this thread once and have not read all of it. The article also has links to some of his previous writing and in the comments a link to another's website on declassified documents: ATOMIC BOMB: DECISION (Hiroshima-Nagasaki)

Looking for this article I searched thread titles for atomic, bomb and nuclear - finally using deserve to find this thread. There is a short 2005 thread that may be of interest: Atom Bomb On Japan Only one member's name was familiar, Spidge.

Alex Wellerstein appears in a 2015 thread, as a contributor to a debate: Destroyer of worlds

 

A London Review of Books review by Andrew Cockburn recommended by an American friend. The book being 'Road to Surrender: Three Men and the Countdown to the End of World War Two' by Evan Thomas.
Link: Andrew Cockburn · Big Six v. Little Boy: The Unnecessary Bomb

Other booksellers exist: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Road-Surrender-Three-Countdown-World/dp/0399589252

 

The Atomic Bomb and the End of World War II | National Security Archive

One paper is especially note worthy. When asked about bomb production the reply was "We'll produce six a month by October." (Paraphrased, I don't have the oomph to dig into the docs right now.) No mention of how many would be on hand and/or used by the 1st of Oct. The two in the Pacific at the end of the war were used at the Bikini tests.

 

It would be interesting to read what the Japanese movie goers thought of it I think. Pure curiosity of course. Not that I am really concerned with their feeling about it though. I'm sure that their opinions are a bit skewed about their WW2 experience. In Japanese schools I’ve read that they’re taught that the US forced them to into the war with the devastating embargoes.