Yonai's naval offices and role in the counterfactual

Yonai had served as navy minister and prime minister, influenced Imperial Japanese Navy doctrine, negotiated with Britain and America, and later helped manage Japan's surrender. Accounts of his life describe him walking through Tokyo without protection during a period of political assassinations. He also sponsored threatened officers including Isoroku Yamamoto. The reported retreat of soldiers at the sight of an imperial-household chauffeur outside a refuge supplies a more specific example of the authority associated with his contacts. His relationship with Hirohito is interpreted as resembling that of an unofficial genro, although a formal appointment is not established. His earlier premiership is presented as a temporary arrangement while a civilian successor was sought.