Isoroku Yamamoto

Although a precise outlook on the international situation is hard for anyone to make, it is needless to say that now the time has come for the Navy, especially the Combined Fleet, to devote itself seriously to war preparations, training, and operational plans with a firm determination that a conflict with the U.S. and Great Britain is inevitable.

A military man can scarcely pride himself on having smitten a sleeping enemy; it is more a matter of shame, simply, for the one smitten.

Unless more efforts based upon long-range planning are put into military preparations and operations, it will be very hard to win the final victory.

If we are to have a war with America, we will have no hope of winning unless the U.S. fleet in Hawaiian waters can be destroyed.

If a war breaks out with the United States, the navy will have to put all its strength into interceptive operations, so... massive sea-borne supplies might be momentarily interrupted.

As long as tides of war are in our favor, the United States will never stop fighting. As a consequence, the war will continue for several years, during which materiel will be exhausted, vessels and arms will be damaged, and they can be replaced only with great difficulties.

Even a burglar hesitates to go back for more.

It is like a disease to think that an invincible status has been achieved after being satisfied with the past successful operations.

Even though there wasn't much damage, it's a disgrace that the skies over the imperial capital should have been defiled without a single enemy plane being shot down. It provides a regrettably graphic illustration of the saying that a bungling attack is better than the most skillful defense.

Japan has always regarded the aircraft carrier as one of the most offensive of armaments.

I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.

I entered the navy with the great ambition of becoming a naval soldier and going to war. Either I die from this festering wound - because I refuse to have my arm amputated - or I recover from it and continue being a soldier. I have a one-in-two chance, and I shall bet my life on it!