A delayed Pacific war gives Japan time to rearm

Hardline factions could accept a pause under Yonai and wait for another government, as they had done during his earlier premiership. A later return to expansion would remain possible even after withdrawal from China. The intervening years could allow Japan to modernize, although greater economic self-sufficiency would depend on the time and investment available. Renewed access to American oil could support a larger stockpile. Domestic production would matter alongside those reserves because a stockpile alone would continue to run down. One illustrative calculation combines four years of stored oil with synthetic production equal to two-thirds of an annual requirement, extending endurance in a later war.