Yonai opposed war and understood the limits of Japanese naval power. In the 1939 discussion cited here, he says the Imperial Japanese Navy was not designed to triumph over Britain and the United States. He instead conceived powerful ships such as Yamato as a deterrent fleet that might make war too costly to contemplate. His stance provides a sharp contrast to leaders who recognized Japan's weakness yet still accepted a war they could not sustain.
Chapter · 3:11:52-3:13:23
Yonai's case against war with Britain and America
Mitsumasa Yonai represents the treaty-faction case that Japan's navy was meant to deter Britain and America, not defeat them in war.