At the end of the day, they weren't beaten in a way that beat the nationalism out of them. Germany had Soviet and Allied Troops marching through their towns, their cities sieged, their industry completely toppled. It was clear they were losing. To many in Japan, the lack of an invasion meant it felt like they could still fight. Yes, their cities were bombed but they fought for over a year while that was the case. So when one day they were just told the war was over and that they had lost, it came as a shock. Many didn't hear about the nukes until weeks or months after the war had ended. All they had to blame was weak politicians and weak generals, not the fact that they, as a nation, had lost.