Do you thnk the Emperor would have allowed his peole to surrender or ordered them to fight to the death?
Here is the real irony of the Showa Emperor that most do not seem to realize. He was entirely a puppet of his own Privy Council. They made all decisions, and simply put his name to them.
For hundreds of years, the Emperors of Japan had almost no power. Everything was decided and enacted to be done in their name, normally by the Shogun or whoever was filling that equivalent role. That all ended though during the Meiji Restoration, when essentially a "Self-Coup" brought down the 255 years of rule by the Tokugawa Shogunate and allowed the Emperor to take control himself.
However, that was not to last. When he died in 1912, his son Taisho assumed the throne. And he was always sickly and in poor health, starting with contracting cerebral meningitis at less than a month old. And many have suggested he suffered mental deficiencies and other issues as he was almost never seen in public after taking the throne. And before his reign even ended, his Privy Council had largely resumed the old custom of ruling in his name.
And in 1918, only 6 years into his rule he was unable to even attend to the rituals required of his office. Like opening the Diet, officiating at the graduation of Army and Navy officers from the academy, and the rites required of the Emperor under Shinto. So in 1919. 18 year old Crown Prince Hirohito was named as "Prince Regent", taking over those ceremonial duties from his father. And ultimately, that is likely what had led to WWII.
One of the strongest Emperors in centuries if not longer, followed by a sickly Emperor that could barely perform his duties. But instead of a Shogun to assume the mantle, it became largely the military and senior Court Officials. Add into that, a young Prince Regent for 8 years that had absolutely no power, his duties were only ceremonial.
So it is no wonder that when Emperor Taisho passed and Emperor Showa took the throne, things remained the same. The Emperor once again locked away, out of touch with his own people and the Privy Council ruling in his name. He could not even speak or vote in his own council unless they were deadlocked (which happened exactly once during his entire reign).
So in reality, the Emperor would have "allowed" nothing. He was mute in the affairs of the Government, he could do or say nothing. That decision would have been made by the Privy Council, which already showed that they were prepared to fight to the death. And by August 1945, the Privy Council had been replaced by the "Supreme Council for the Direction of the War" (commonly called the "Big Six"). The Prime Minister, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of War, the Minister of the Navy, the Army Chief of Staff, and the Navy Chief of Staff. Only one of which was a civilian (Togo), the other five were all Admirals and Generals.
I have long believed that through Koichi Kido (Lord Keeper of the Privy Seal) the Emperor was able to get the Minister of the Navy (Admiral Yonai) to flip his vote, which ultimately resulted in the deadlock where for the first time he was able to steer them towards accepting Potsdam. And he was the most likely of them to flip, as he was known to have been a large supporter of relations with the UK and US, and against the Tripartite Pact when he was Prime Minister. In fact, it was his public statements against Germany and Italy that forced his resignation in 1940, two months before the Tripartite Pact was signed.
But I have absolutely no doubt that if not for the bombs and invasion by the Soviets, the Big Six would have ordered every man, woman, and child in Japan to fight to the death. Their culture is accepting of suicide, and was full of examples of hopeless fights that were done anyways because honor demanded it. Ranging from the early 18th century "47 Ronin", to even post-war culture like the "Seven Samurai" (which has been remade many times in the US, ranging from "The Magnificent Seven" to "A Bug's Life").
