Sadao Araki

Baron Sadao Araki (May 26, 1877 – November 2, 1966) was a general in the Imperial Japanese Army before World War II. A charismatic leader and one of the principal nationalist right-wing political theorists in the late Japanese Empire, he was regarded as the leader of the radical faction within the politicized Japanese Army.

The sword is our steel Bible!

According to our belief, Japan was founded by the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami, who is revered by the entire nation for her all-pervading virtue, and from whom our Imperial House is descended.

If we have a thousand bamboo spears, there's nothing to worry about a war with the Soviet Union.

Setbacks there and at home will only increase our strength...

Quotes

• The sword is our steel Bible!
  • Quoted in "Irving Wallace: A Writer's Profile" - Page 373 - by John Leverence, Sam L. Grogg - 1974

• In order to have enough of the raw materials...which will be lacking in wartime, we should plan to acquire and use foreign resources existing in our expected sphere of influence, such as Sakhalim, China, and the Southern Pacific.
  • 1933. Quoted in "Carriers in Combat: The Air War at Sea" - Page 43 - by Chester G. Hearn - History - 2007

• Now the opportunity to destroy the USSR has arrived.
  • Quoted in "The greatest battle: Stalin, Hitler, and the Desperate Struggle for Moscow" - Page 215 - by Andrew Nagorski - 2007

• According to our belief, Japan was founded by the Sun Goddess Amaterasu Omikami, who is revered by the entire nation for her all-pervading virtue, and from whom our Imperial House is descended.
  • Quoted in "Contemporary Japan" - Page 422 - by Nihon Gaiji Kyokai - 1932

• A war minister is able to force the adoption of any measure desired by the Camp or to block any measure that meets his disapproval.
  • Quoted in "Shakai kagaku tokyu" - Page 883 - by Waseda Daigaku Shakai Kagaku Kenkyujo, Waseda Daigaku Ajia Taiheiyo Kenkyu Senta - Social sciences - 1992

• If we have a thousand bamboo spears, there's nothing to worry about a war with the Soviet Union.
  • Quoted in "Sugamo Diary" - Page 30 - by Yoshio Kodama - 1960

• Give me a Japanese division armed with bamboo spears and I'll wipe out the entire Russian Far Eastern Army.
  • Quoted in "Until They Eat Stones" - Page 254 - by Russell Brines - 1944

• Frivolous thinking is due to foreign thought. Japan must no longer let the impudence of the white peoples go unpunished. It is the duty of Japan to fulfill her natural destiny, to cause China to respect the Japanese, to expel Chinese influence from Manchuria, and to follow the way of imperial destiny.
  • Quoted in "World War II almanac" - Page 9 - by Robert Goralski - History - 1981

• The spirit of the Japanese nation is, by its nature, a thing that must be propagated over the seven seas and extended over the five continents. Anything that may hinder its progress must be abolished, even by force.
  • Quoted in "Dragon in the Dust" - Page 229 - by Post Wheeler - 2007

• We have no hesitation in declaring that we are a military nation- in the cause of Kodo and the highest morality.
  • Quoted in "Behind the Japanese Mask" - Page 43 - by Jesse Frederick Steiner - History - 1943

• What sort of government is it that permits so many children to go to school hungry, without even a morsel of food in their stomachs? It cannot be! It must not be!
  • Quoted in "They Shall Inherit the Earth" - Page 55 - by Otto Zoff, Anne Garrison - 1943

• Let the League of Nations say whatever it pleases, let America offer whatever interference, let China decry Japan's action at the top of her voice, but Japan must adhere to her course unswervingly.
  • Quoted in "China and America" - Page 200 - by Foster Rhea Dulles - Political Science - 1981

• It is Japan's mission to be supreme in Asia, the South Seas and eventually the four corners of the world.
  • Quoted in "Japan and the Defence of Australia" - Page 15 - by Edmund Leolin Piesse - 1935

• Unless you remove the weeds, a good crop will be ruined.
  • Quoted in "The Quarterly review" - Page 20 - by William Gifford, John Taylor Coleridge - 1935

• Setbacks there and at home will only increase our strength...
  • About Japanese soldiers sent to Kiska. Quoted in "Out on the Causeway" - Time Magazine - May 24, 1943

• The foundations of our Empire are now based more firmly than ever! The birth of a Crown Prince shows that the prosperity of the Imperial Household is increasing many times.
  • Quoted in "Sun's Son's Son" - Time Magazine - January 1, 1934

• It is now time for our nation to frustrate the wild dreams of the whites.
  • Quoted in "Britons Beaten?" - Time Magazine - October 16, 1933

• In appointing our Ambassador to the United States at this important time, with the 1936 crisis ahead, such considerations as dignity, past career, equity and sentiment must be discarded and a man of ability chosen in the interests of the country. In the light of these considerations, we find Hiroshi Saito, present Minister of Holland, the right person for the post.
  • Quoted in "Up Saito!" - Time Magazine - December 25, 1933

• I ask you to remember that the Japanese troops are a strictly disciplined force and perform their duties with as little harmfulness as possible.
  • Quoted in "President Proposes" - Time Magazine - July 4, 1932