Zipang

The Land of Gold

Kadomatsu and his landing party use a laser designator to guide a blank Harpoon missile to strike the American supply depot, an attack which harms no one but demonstrates their ability to do so. But the Americans do not retreat as the Mirai’s crew expect, but instead send out patrols into the jungle to ferret out suspected Japanese infiltrators. Meanwhile, a large Japanese fleet unrecorded in history, led by the battleship Yamato, arrives to shell the American Marines. Kusaka radios Kadomatsu from Umidori — now stowed in Yamato's hangar — to reveal his vision for a new country that is neither the militaristic empire of his time nor the defeated Japan of the future. He calls his ideal land Zipang. He reminds Kadomatsu that they are caught up in a war and that Japan cannot just withdraw from the fight without striking some blow at the Americans. In particular, Kusaka argues that, if the 1st US Marine Division, a vital component in the US strategy in the Pacific, is wiped out on Guadalcanal before the Japanese withdraw, it will make it easier for Japan to arrange an honorable peace treaty with the United States — as a first step towards his vision. Kadomatsu refuses to consider this and calls Kusaka a murderous madman.