Introduction
People like to communicate and share their thoughts in a variety of ways. Still, it is hard to believe that interpersonal communication could be organized in a wrong way and result in a number of deaths. Sometimes, people could identify their mistakes and admit that miscommunication takes place. Sometimes, people do not want to accept the fact that they make a mistake. There are also the situations when a misunderstanding in communication occurs and cannot be identified in time. One of such tragic examples could be taken from the history when the Potsdam Declaration was offered to the Japanese government as a warning to “surrender or face annihilation” (Ham 204).
The Japanese responded to that offer with one word, “mokusatsu”. That response was translated by the Americans as “to reject” or “to ignore” instead of being interpreted as “no comments at the moment” (Gamble and Gamble 133). The result was fatal for Japan and helped people underline the necessity to deal with miscommunication in a proper way. Communication errors occur because of different reasons, and people have to consider each word spoken and each idea written because the example of miscommunication between the representatives of the United States and Japan proved that one poorly chosen word could activate an atomic bomb and take so many lives in a moment.
Historical Background
The evaluation of the historical events shows that Japan, as well as the United States, had enough chances to avoid the situation when the atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Of course, nowadays, people like to make a guess and suggest their personal interpretations of the event. However, there is one truth that cannot be ignored. At that moment, the United States already got the bombs. The only thing the current President of the United States, Harry Truman, needed was a good reason for taking a serious step and using the bomb. For a certain period of time, the United States planned to drop the bomb on other places, and such cities as Kyoto, Yokohama, Hiroshima, and Kokura were at the top of the list (Ham 148). However, Stimson, the current Secretary of War, had spent his amazing honeymoon in Kyoto and admired the beauty of the city. He supported the idea to change the list and removed Kyoto from that list replacing it with Nagasaki.
At the beginning of 1945, the leaders of such countries as the United States, the United Kingdom, and China offered the document that outlined the conditions of the Japanese surrender under which Hirohito could stay as the head of the state with no powers, and the Japanese people could not be destroyed as a nation (Ham 204). The Soviet Union participated in the development of the draft. Still, there was no signature of the Soviet Union’s leader in the official document. It was proposed that Japan wanted to discuss its dramatic situation with Stalin.
However, there were not enough reasons to prove that fact. Anyway, the conclusions introduced in the Declaration were not appropriate for the Japanese leaders. Therefore, they did not want to demonstrate their true intentions and tried to keep silence as long as possible. What they chose was to say that they preferred the “mokusatsu” ultimatum in that situation (Barash and Webel 220). The answer was interpreted as the rejection of the Declaration, and the United States decided to use their atomic bombs without even notifying the enemy about the possibility of the threat. Such decision was explained by the Japanese possibility to gather enough air forces and be able to interfere. The United States could not allow that happen. The bombs were dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945, and on Nagasaki on August 9, 1945 (Johnson and Berkowitz par. 6).
Importance of Communication
Communication between people is a crucial activity that cannot be ignored and poorly analyzed. However, communication between nations is a more serious activity that has to be weighted properly. When it is the time of war, people cannot forget that one look or move could lead to the results that could destroy nations and change the history. Therefore, communication in a war period is a significant topic, and leaders, as well as their representatives, should possess a number of skills and abilities to share the information, to introduce personal and national positions, and to make the decisions that are expected. One communication error could break all rules and turn a fruitful conversation into a “dialogue of the deaf” (Barash and Webel 220). The point is that people could not think of each word used in their speeches or believe that people could comprehend a true message in the words offered. However, personal hopes and beliefs should not be overestimated when the war happens. It seems that such a professional political figure as Prime Minister of Japan, Suzuki Kantaro, could not make such tiny mistakes but use the words that were appropriate and clear.
In the discussions that took place between the United States, Japan, the United Kingdom, China, and the Soviet Union played a very important role in the history and the development of the events. Still, one error could not be taken into consideration, and the results turned out to be fatal.
False Translation
The main problem of miscommunication between Japan and the United States was the impossibility to speak similar languages. Therefore, the speech of Prime Minister was translated to the American leaders. In general, his speech was clear enough, and the Truman administrated understood that the Japanese government was not ready to accept the conditions of the Potsdam Declaration. However, the main decision of Japan was “mokusatsu”.
This word is polysemantic by its nature. One of the translators from the Truman administration used the explanation of this word as “to reject”. However, there was another meaning, “no comments”. Many people, theorists, historians, and researchers believe that if the word “mokusatsu” was translated in another way, people could avoid the consequences of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, the meaning of the word was lost in its translation (Graves par. 1). The investigation of the word “mokusatsu” could be organized in two ways. On the one hand, “moku” means “silent”, and “satsu” means “kill” (Graves par.6).
The combination of these two words could be interpreted as the intentions to reject the idea and kill those, who proposed it. On the other hand, the same words could be combined and have an idiomatic meaning that was “no comments”. Prime Minister was not ready to pronounce the decision, and his inability to formulate a thought lead to the events that could not be forgotten or forgiven. The translator was not able to check the guesses and focus the President’s attention on the possibility to interpret the same word in another way. The United States was not eager to wait or ask for the explanation but demonstrate its power and intentions to end the war and prove its ultimatum.
Miscommunication Problems
Taking into consideration the analysis of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki situation, the false translation of the word “mokusatsu”, and the inabilities to spend more time on investigating the decisions, it is possible to say that miscommunication could be the reason for a human death. Miscommunication during a war period could be the reason for a number of deaths, traumas, and destructions. Therefore, it is important to clarify the main reasons for miscommunication and identify the problems people could have during a communication process. Miscommunication problems could occur in different fields including marketing, politics, and management (Wilson 82).
Miscommunication influences human relations, determines the quality of life, and even predicts working conditions. People could suffer from miscommunication because of the lack of knowledge, inabilities to investigate and interpret, unawareness of language, or unwillingness to listen. All these reasons and problems could be observed in the situation with the USA and Japan. However, such historical examples should not be used just in order to prove the possibility of miscommunication at such levels. This situation could be used to prove that people have to be careful with words and phrases used in conversations and consider the abilities of their interlocutors to understand what is said and what is people want to say.
In many dictionaries and online sources, miscommunication is the lack of understanding or a failure to communicate in a proper way. Japanese leader could find the required portion of understanding with the American leaders, and the American leaders failed to communicate with Prime Minister of Japan in a proper way. Two parties could not understand that it was not enough to recognize personal needs and the needs of the opponents. It was more important to clarify what methods of communication could be more effective in their situations.
Miscommunication problems have a number of roots, and people, who decide to be the participants of communication, should understand their role and obligations in a process. On the one hand, they have to formulate their thoughts properly, choose the words and even punctuation marks in order to make the required pauses in a proper way. On the other hand, there are the rules and norms that should be taken into consideration when people start communicating. Miscommunication could be caused by an inappropriate understanding of traditions, cultural preferences, religion, etc. Such problems may lead to not only some personal offenses but to the inabilities to comprehend the essence of the offense, make the correct conclusions, and correct the situation. Besides, miscommunication problems could result in unnecessary conflicts and affect the relations between people or even between countries.
Nowadays, many people believe that open communication and the absence of ethical or cultural boundaries could be a chance for people to be united. People demonstrate their independence and strive to be free from any kind of obligation. However, under such conditions communication could be a serious threat to people and the reason to stop the relations. Miscommunication problems could also be observed in the form of personal discomfort, the inability to formulate a new idea, and tension development. Some people cannot even understand the reasons for such changes and continue to develop miscommunication not paying attention to the fact that they and their words are the main reasons for their discontent.
Miscommunication problems between the United States and Japan lead to the atomic bombs being dropped on two Japanese cities. These problems included the fact that the representatives of both countries used different languages and could not set the priorities in their words. Instead of thinking about the ways of how to improve the relations and reduce the number of death, the United States wanted to protect its people and take the first step when Truman decided to attack the two cities with thousands of innocent people in there. It is hard to believe that one false translation and the inability to interpret the message of the leader in a proper way lead to such catastrophic results.
Conclusion
In general, the analysis of the situation between the United States and Japan in 1945 helps to understand that, even being smart and educated enough, people could not help but make a number of mistakes in their communication. Miscommunication is one of the main problems for people in the past and the representatives of the modern world. Many current politicians could not talk to each other on a proper level. Therefore, wrong interpretations, unwillingness to wait and analyze, and personal concerns promote miscommunication that leads to inappropriate decisions like the one made by the United States in regards to Japan and its people in 1945.
Works Cited
Barash, David P. and Charles P. Webel. Peace and Conflicts Studies. SAGE, 2013.
Gamble, Teri Kwal and Michael W. Gamble. Interpersonal Communication: Building Connections Together. SAGE Publications, 2013.
Graves, LeAnne. “Misunderstood Word May Have Led to Catastrophic Outcome.” The National. 2014. Web.
Ham, Paul. Hiroshima Nagasaki: The Real Story of the Atomic Bombings and Their Aftermath. Macmillan, 2014.
Johnson, Richard and Bonnie Berkowitz. “An Illustrated History of the Hiroshima and Nagasaki Nuclear Bombings.” The Washington Post. 2015. Web.
Wilson, Randal. Mastering Project Management Strategy and Processes: Proved Methods to Meet Organizational Goals. FT Press, 2014.