Yamamoto held several important posts in the IJN, and undertook many of its changes and reorganizations, especially its development ofnaval aviation. He was the commander-in-chief during the early years of thePacific War and oversaw major engagements including theattack on Pearl Harbor and theBattle of Midway. He was killed when American code breakers identified his flight plans, enabling theUnited States Army Air Forces toshoot down his plane. His death was a major blow to Japanese military morale during World War II.
Amilitary man can scarcelypride himself on having "smitten asleepingenemy"; it is more a matter ofshame, simply, for the one smitten.
Should hostilities once break out betweenJapan and theUnited States, it is not enough that we take Guam and the Philippines, nor even Hawaii and San Francisco. To make victory certain, we would have to march into Washington and dictate the terms of peace in the White House. I wonder if our politicians, among whom armchair arguments about war are being glibly bandied about in the name of state politics, have confidence as to the final outcome and are prepared to make the necessary sacrifices.
As quoted inAt Dawn We Slept (1981) by Gordon W. Prange, p. 11; this quote was stated in a letter toRyoichi Sasakawa prior to the attack on Pearl Harbor. Minus the last sentence, it was taken out of context and interpreted in the U.S. as a boast that Japan would conquer the entire contiguous United States. The omitted sentence showed Yamamoto's counsel of caution towards a war that would cost Japan dearly.
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. I would rather you made your appraisal after seeing what the enemy does, since it is certain that, angered and outraged, he will soon launch a determined counterattack.
Reply made to Ogata Taketora, the Editor in Chief of Asahi Shimbun (9 January 1942) as quoted inThe Reluctant Admiral (1979) byHiroyuki Agawa
In the first six to twelve months of a war with theUnited States andGreat Britain I will run wild and win victory upon victory. But then, if thewar continues after that, I have no expectation of success.
Statement to Japanese cabinet minister Shigeharu Matsumoto and Japanese prime ministerFumimaro Konoe, as quoted inEagle Against the Sun: The American War With Japan (1985) by Ronald Spector. This remark would later prove prophetic; precisely six months after the attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese navy would suffer a major defeat at the Battle of Midway, from which it never recovered.
The fiercest serpent may be overcome by a swarm of ants.
Statement in opposition of the planned construction of theYamato class battleships, as quoted inScraps of paper: the disarmament treaties between the world wars (1989) by Harlow A. Hyde. In this statement, Yamamoto implies that even the most powerful battleships can be sunk by a huge swarm of carrier planes. This remark also proved prophetic as bothYamato andMusashi would be sunk by overwhelming air attacks.
I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve.
Statement made after theattack on Pearl Harbor by Yamamoto as portrayed in the filmTora! Tora! Tora!, this is one of the most quoted remarks attributed to him. Though it is thought that it summarizes his sentiments well, a definite source for this quote has never been provided. William Safire wrote that there is no printed evidence to support this quote.Safire's Political Dictionary, page 666. For more information see the Wikipedia article "Isoroku Yamamoto's sleeping giant quote".
You cannot invade the mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.
Some have declared this attribution is "unsubstantiated” even though it has been repeated thousands of times in various Internet postings. The quote is supposed to be in a letter, but the letter hasn’t been found or no longer exists. There is no record found yet of the commander in chief of Japan’s wartime fleet ever saying it. The jury is still out on this.
Yamamoto was an aggressive and inspiring officer, but he made the error of dividing his huge force five ways and of thinking that his foe would behave in a predictable way. ~ C.L. Sulzberger
In the wake of Pearl Harbor, a single word favored above all others by Americans as best characterizing the Japanese people was "treacherous," and for the duration of the war the surprise attack on the U.S. Pacific fleet remained the preeminent symbol of the enemy's inherent treachery. The attack also inspired a thirst for revenge among Americans that the Japanese, with their own racial blinders, had failed to anticipate. In one of his earliest presentations of the plan to attack Pearl Harbor, even Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, who presumedly knew the American temperament firsthand from his years as a naval attache in Washington, expressed hope that shattering opening blow against the Pacific Fleet would render both the U.S. Navy and the American people "so dispirited that they will not be able to recover."
John W. Dower,War Without Mercy: Race & Power in the Pacific War (1986), p. 36
Yamamoto was an aggressive and inspiring officer, but he made the error of dividing his huge force five ways and of thinking that his foe would behave in a predictable way. After his crushing defeat on Midway, he ordered a general retreat and took ill in his cabin. U.S. naval intelligence again was his undoing. When he took off on an inspection tour fromRabaul, American fighter planes were up and waiting for him.
C.L. Sulzberger,The American Heritage Picture History of World War II (1966), p. 212
