The comparison between Japanese and American wartime tonnage exposes a deficit that tactical success could not repair. Japan had chosen the moment to begin the war, yet entered it without enough ships or fuel for the industrial contest that followed. Capturing oil and rubber in Java, Sumatra, and Malaya merely created a second problem: moving those resources over vulnerable sea routes to the home islands. Even a railway along the Asian coast would demand enormous construction and army-protection effort, while cooperation between the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy remained difficult.
Chapter · 0:52-2:47
Japan could not match American ships or secure its fuel
Japan's early victories could not erase a huge shipbuilding gap or the difficulty of carrying captured Southeast Asian resources back to the home islands.