>>i have on good authority, in the form of diary notes, that a faction of japan tied to business interests and the emperor were wishing to negotiate peace with china circa 1943, as japan felt it can fight usa to a standstill, but not if it had to struggle in china at the same time. i will release the notes when ready, after reflection, when the time is ripe.<<
Because of the huge USA advantage in war production, the notion of Japan fighting the USA to a standstill is absurd. In 1943 the USA built 65 aircraft carriers, 85,898 aircraft, and 11,448,360 tons of merchant shipping. By comparison, Japan built only 5 aircraft carriers, 16,693 aircraft, and 769,085 tons of merchant shipping. Japan's dismal fate was sealed the moment it attacked Pearl Harbor...
Why Japan Really Lost The War
combinedfleet.com
Conclusion
In retrospect, it is difficult to comprehend how Japan's leadership managed to rationalize their way around the economic facts when they contemplated making war on the U.S. After all, these were not stupid men. Indeed, internal Imperial Navy studies conducted in 1941 showed exactly the trends in naval shipbuilding I have outlined above. In the end, however, the Tojo government chose the path of aggression, compelled by internal political dynamics which made the prospect of a general Japanese disengagement in China (which was the only means by which the American economic embargo would have been lifted) too humiliating a course to be taken. Consequently, the Japanese embarked on what can only be described as a suicidal venture, against an overwhelmingly large foe. However, their greatest mistake was not just disregarding the economic muscle which lay partially dormant on the other side of the Pacific. In actuality, their chief error lay in misreading the will of the American people. When the American giant awoke, it did not lapse into despair as a result of the defeats that Japan had inflicted upon it. Rather, it awoke in a rage, and applied every ounce of its tremendous strength with a cold, methodical fury against its foe. The grim price Japan paid -- 1.8 million military casualties, the complete annihilation of its military, a half million or so civilians killed, and the utter destruction of practically every major urban area within the Home Islands -- bears mute testimony to the folly of its militarist leaders. |
