Hello everyone, and thank you again for listening to the saga of World War II and Cass's Belly Project.

In this episode, we continue the run-up to Pearl Harbor and discuss Japan's strategic dilemma.

I know I fell behind by another week, but the show will go on if at a reduced pace for now.

I don't have much of a preamble this time, so let's just dive right in. Episode 16, Japan prepares for now. I don't have much of a preamble this time, so let's just dive right in.

Episode 16, Japan prepares for war.

Frankly and definitely, there is danger ahead.

Danger against which we must prepare. We shall defend our island, whatever the cross may be.

We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds,

we shall fight in the fields and in the streets,

we shall fight in the hills.

We shall never surrender.

As Summer gave way to fall in the latter half of 1941, the Empire of Japan was in a precarious position.

Newly imposed sanctions by the United States, Britain, and the Netherlands were starving the home islands of desperately needed materials and resources.

The newly appointed Prime Minister, Hideki Tojo, had promised to continue negotiations with the United States in order to end the embargo, but he did not feel compelled to restrict those negotiations to diplomatic means.

What could not be gained at the bargaining table would be gained by force.

Tojo and his fellow militarists in power in Tokyo not only believed war to be a viable option,

but were enthusiastic for it. It was quite obvious that the war would be fought at sea,

but that did not concern them.

Never mind that this were would be fought against the navies of both the United States and Great Britain.

The Japanese military calculus was not as boneheaded as it may seem to modernize, though.

In retrospect, it seems obvious that the industrial might of the United States

would beat

...