Big ships, big guns, and the insecurity of treaty limits

The phrase Taikan Kyoshugi, rendered here as big ships and big guns, captures a powerful current in Japanese naval thinking. Treaty limits did more than cap numbers: the 35,000-ton ceiling left HMS Hood as a conspicuously larger symbol of British power. In this interpretation, a more generous capital-ship ratio and a realistic 40,000-ton limit might have reduced the sense of humiliation and insecurity. Japan might then have spent proportionally more on prestigious battleships and less on cruisers and destroyers. That fleet could look stronger while actually becoming less balanced and less capable of sustained operations.