Isoroku Yamamoto

As leader of the Japanese navy's Combined Fleet, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto was in the forefront of the plans to attack the United States in 1941. Yamamoto held not only great military power but also the hearts and loyalty of the men who served under him. Furthermore, he had lived for an extended period in the United States and had unique knowledge of his enemy, so his opinion was highly regarded during the planning stages. This letter, written by Yamamoto to Navy Minister Koshiro Oikawa on January 7, 1941, lays out the general strategy that Yamamoto thought was the most effective way to demoralize the United States and virtually eliminate it from the Pacific sphere, namely to ambush the U.S. fleet in a surprise attack. As it turned out, this was the general strategy adopted by the Japanese government in carrying out...