Mitsumasa Yonai's case for infrastructure over prestige ships

Yonai judged fleet strength against the industrial system needed to sustain it. He saw enormous battleships as a poor use of limited yard capacity when Japan still lacked fuel facilities, docks, shipyards, and resilient internal logistics. Japan's narrow-gauge, passenger-oriented rail network could not readily replace coastal freight if maritime traffic were interdicted. The procurement choice therefore turns on whether a navy can keep operating once a war disrupts imports and coastal trade.