Barracuda: Final Bearing

“CHAPTER II. RENUNCIATION OF WAR ARTICLE 9.

Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.

In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”

— ARTICLE 9 OF THE JAPANESE CONSTITUTION

“Rest peacefully, for the error shall not be repeated.”

— JAPANESE SCRIPT ON THE GRANITE FACE OF THE PARK OF PEACE CENOTAPH, HIROSHIMA, JAPAN

“The United States is being utterly conceited, obstinate and disrespectful. It is regrettable indeed. We simply cannot tolerate such an attitude.”

— Y. HARA, PRESIDENT OF THE PRIVY COUNCIL, DECEMBER 1941

“Both the United States and Japan are victims of forces they can neither control nor resist. The tragedy of this war, as in many of history’s greatest wars, is that it will be fought by two altogether decent nations, neither of which harbors real ill will toward the other. Yet the fear that seems to dominate the human condition quite as much as love is supposed to will overwhelm the decency of each … if there is any hope in avoiding a second U.S.-Japanese war, it rests in our leaders becoming frightened.”

“The vanquished seem repeatedly to rise anew, to try their hand at making history again.”

“Everything happens twice.”

— GEORGE FRIEDMAN/MEREDITH LEBARD, THE COMING WAR WITH JAPAN

“Sooner or later, the United States must come to grips with the fact that Japan has become the leading industrial nation in the world. The Japanese have the longest lifespan. They have the highest employment, the highest literacy, the smallest gap between rich and poor. Their manufactured products have the highest quality. They have the best food. The fact is that a country the size of Montana with half our population, will soon have an economy equal to ours … The United States is now without question the weaker partner in any economic discussion with Japan.”

— MICHAEL CRICHTON, RISING SUN

“You are being offered a glorious way to die.”

— VICE ADM. RYUNOSUKE KUSAKA, IMPERIAL JAPANESE NAVY COMBINED FLEET, CHIEF OF STAFF, TO VICE ADM. SEIICHI PRO, COMMANDER SECOND FLEET, PRIOR TO OPERATION TEN’ICHIGO (HEAVEN NUMBER ONE), IN WHICH THE BATTLESHIP YAMATO WAS SENT ON A SUICIDE MISSION TO OKINAWA. AS YAMATO CAPSIZED AND EXPLODED, ADMIRAL ITO CHOSE TO REMAIN ABOARD, RETIRING TO HIS SEA CABIN. CAPT. KOSAKU ARIGA, COMMANDING OFFICER OF THE YAMATO, LIKEWISE WENT DOWN WITH HIS SHIP, LASHING HIMSELF TO AN ANTIAIRCRAFT COMMAND STATION ON THE BRIDGE.