While the pundits continue to debate whether the two atomic bombs used to end World War II were truly necessary, the fact remains that they were used because policymakers in the West believed that the Japanese people would defend their homeland to the last Japanese citizen, resulting in perhaps millions more casualties than those experienced in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This spirit of defending the homeland to the death was the proximate result of the bushido spirit engendered throughout Japanese society by the samurai tradition that had such a profound impact on the country's culture over the years. Other aspects of Japanese culture were also shown to have been influenced by the samurai, including arts and theatre, as well as the popular press. Works...

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Smith, Robert J. And Richard K. Beardsley. Japanese Culture: Its Development and Characteristics. Chicago: Aldine Publishing, 1962.

Thomas, Julia Adeney. (2005). "Bonds of Civility: Aesthetic Networks and the Political Origins of Japanese Culture." Pacific Affairs 78(3):491.

Van Der Vaart, Felix. (2006, July 8). "Samurai Spirit…