Yes. From what I have read, this is all true. Yamamoto, Admiral of the Imperial Japanese Fleet and western educated (Harvard), was pretty much the only high ranking official who outwardly spoke out saying a war with the US was not winnable though. Most other high ranking officials believed Pearl Harbor would break the American spirit at home, even though the majority of the American public wanted to remain isolationist.
As we all know now, attacking Pearl Harbor did exactly the opposite of what the Japanese intended.
There is soooooo much more to the story though. Roosevelt was very much into “cloak and dagger” code breaking and espionage. I do not believe he and his administration agreed with the general public on isolationism either. The US was not on the same level, globally, as the British or even the Dutch, and he wanted to change that. While the oil embargo was a big factor in forcing Japan’s hand, there is more there. I’m not saying Roosevelt wanted or knew Japan would strike, but on a strategic level, I don’t think he necessarily minded that it happened either.
China is also fascinating. The internal power struggle between Chiang Kai-Shek and “tribal” leaders throughout the country. Mao Zedong rise later. A LOT of decisions made there that I wonder if we would have, or could have, done differently had we known what the implications of those decisions would mean.
Anyway…WWII has always fascinated me, and always will. I just don’t think the Pacific gets as much recognition as it should, particularly the time before the US becomes a formal belligerent.
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