If Alfred Thayer Mahan is no longer a useful guide to Japanese maritime strategy,
who is? Julian Corbett’s writings offer a good starting point for this sorely needed
debate and for a broader renaissance of strategic thought in Japan. Corbett fits
better with contemporary Japanese politics and political culture than does
Mahan. He favored big ideas, not technical details or specific weapons systems;
he was not a blue-water theorist to the same degree as Mahan; his vision was
notuniversalistlikethatofMahan,butadmittedofregionalstrategiessuchas
Japan’s; and he was not fixated on absolute victory at sea. Rather, Corbett held
out the possibility of limited naval operations aimed at limited political and
strategic objectives—a trait which could endear him to a Japanese populace and
government still averse to the use of force. And, like today’s MSDF leadership,
he depicted controlling maritime communications as the foremost challenge
facing practitioners of naval operations.^100
In short, Corbett’s works offer a promising platform for strategic discussions.
Japan needs to resurrect its tradition of strategic thinking about the sea. Let the
debate begin.168 Asia Looks Seaward