Yamato construction and Japan's hidden industrial burden

Japanese and American construction tonnage shows that Japan could expand output dramatically as war approached. The Kido Butai had not yet been formed, even as Japan began to accelerate its naval building program. Earlier totals look much smaller because Yamato and Musashi absorbed shipyard labor and material. The construction record points to an allocation problem: scarce industrial capacity was concentrated in major projects even though Japan could build warships at scale. American construction also dipped while its yards handled battleships and requests from Britain and other countries, showing how major projects can distort annual totals.