Sailor diplomat: Nomura Kichisaburo and the Japanese-American War

Among my many other scholarly debts, that I owe to Sadao Asada is the greatest. Several years ago, he suggested I write a naval-diplomatic biography of Nomura. He has gone far beyond the call of duty in helping to bring this study to fruition. I can only hope this book approximates his exacting standards. I must also express my gratitude to Akira Iriye, who has long since given me the benefit of both his wisdom and his collegiality. Special thanks belong to Nagai Kazu, who has been unfailing with his advice and kindness. Harry Wray, Roger Buckley, Michael Schaller, Richard Dean Burns, and Wilson Miscamble kindly gave their time to read parts of the manuscript, and their comments and criticisms led to improvements in the book. Michael Barnhart has offered much sound advice, for which I am grateful. My good friend Denis Brosnan has proved himself possessed of an eagle eye for unseemly departures from good prose, and for those occasions where I assumed too much background knowledge on the part of readers. Finally, I offer my thanks to the two readers from the Harvard University Asia Center: Mark Peattie made himself known to me; my other reader remains anonymous. Either way, both made many valuable suggestions, which I trust have been addressed satisfactorily in the following pages.