Reijiro Wakatsuki represented Japan's democratic government with a mandate to secure Japan's standing without allowing naval bills to overwhelm national development. A story about Wakatsuki at 66 credits him and an aide with keeping two bodyguards afloat after their boat sank. A collapse of the treaty system in 1930 would have exposed Japan to a competition with wealthier maritime powers before it was ready. The danger extended beyond Britain and America: an unconstrained Soviet Union might also have begun capital-ship construction. In that hypothetical, a start around 1931 could put Soviet battleships in the water around 1937, adding to Japan's problems. Treaty limits therefore restrained Japan, but they simultaneously restrained its rivals and bought time for Japanese infrastructure and technology to mature.
Chapter · 2:03:25-2:12:30
Wakatsuki uses the treaty to buy time for Japan
Japan's chief delegate sought cuts and status, but above all a pause in naval competition while Japan strengthened its economy and infrastructure.