Did Japan have any nuclear program in place to counter the U.S. war effort,and how aware was Japanese intelligence of The Manhattan project?

star_gazer

During WWII, the Japanese did have a small but significant research program into the creation of nuclear bombs for use by the Japanese military. http://www.fortfreedom.org/w08.htm The Manhattan Project operated under a blanket of tight security lest its discovery induce Axis powers, especially Germany, to accelerate their own nuclear projects or undertake covert operations against the project.[219] The prospect of sabotage was always present, and sometimes suspected when there were equipment failures. While there were some problems believed to be the result of careless or disgruntled employees, there were no confirmed instances of Axis-instigated sabotage.[220] However, on 10 March 1945, a Japanese fire balloon struck a power line, and the resulting power surge caused the three reactors at Hanford to be temporarily shut down.[221] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manhattan_Project#Espionage Apr 30 12, 10:57 PM

doorsfan58

Author Alfred Coppel's 1983 novel "The Burning Mountain" is an excellent (in my opinion) 'alternate history' fictional account of the invasion of Japan by Allied forces (based on the actual proposed Coronet and Olympic operations) after the failure of the Trinity bomb test. I really can't do the book justice with a quick written description, but the story-line revolves around a re-occurring cast of fictional characters (American, Japanese and British) as well as actual historical figures (MacArthur, Tojo, Truman, etc.). As somewhat of an amateur WW2 Pacific Theater historian, this is one of my favorite books. Lots of action, great characters, extremely well written! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Coppel May 02 12, 7:58 PM