That's how it looked from outside Japan.

However, and this is a big however, the maneuvering behind the scenes in Japan reflects a different story. The military knew their condition was desperate and the population was just figuring that out. On top of all you've so well described, the USSR had concluded their war in Europe and declared war on Japan. Stalin was in a position to send god-knows-how-many divisions to Asia, and wanted to for the spoils. He wanted to get back all that was lost in the 1905 war and then some.

At that point the Japanese politicians were in favor of some sort of surrender, the military against it, and the military was ahead. The big obstacle within those in power in Japan was over the fate of the Emperor. "Unconditional surrender" was absolutely unacceptable.

Had the Allies telegraphed exactly what they eventually allowed, even with the A-bomb, that the Emperor could keep his throne, the peace people would have had an easier time and the Emperor would have gladly spared his people what was happening. As the US found out, he wasn't an unreasonable guy.

And what the Allies needed, and realized only as surrender got closer, is that they needed the Emperor to order the surrender. As it was, relatives of the Emperor were dispatched to mainland Asia to ensure the surrender of Japanese forces there.

Japan was a disciplined, orderly society and culture. Once the Emperor ordered surrender, it was safe for American troops to walk down the streets unarmed and unarmored. Hell, as soon as the war was over, 8 US and Brit POW medics walked out of a camp and headed to Tokyo to get help, hitchhiking. And got there.

The Emperor had been leaning strongly, very strongly toward surrender for a while. The A-bomb did hasten his actions by about a week. He didn't want another one. Those maneuvers which weren't visible from the outside of Japan were quite different than what was seen on the local battlefields. Those Japanese soldiers truly lived their sworn allegiances.

Arf