ronsterm, I don't suppose we will ever be privy to the thoughts of the Japanese leadership prior to Hiroshima. But a report I read (many years ago, so no link) said that after Hiroshima the Japanese were so traumatised by the event that stasis set in, and they could make no decisions, as it was so far outside their experience that they had no course of action. Therefore the Yanks had the opportunity to bomb again (even though I'm sure they would have surrendered soon anyway).
On a totally dispassionate note, the destruction and loss of life by small versions of the atomic bomb may well have contributed to them never being used again in warfare.
