Before Yamato sailed, Japanese records discussed fuel at several stages of preparation. A March entry gives a figure of 3,000 tons for the ship. A later instruction restricts replenishment at Tokuyama to 2,000 tons. These are not two competing measurements taken at departure. One belongs to earlier preparation; the other concerns loading. Fuel already aboard cannot be assumed away. YT-Y09
On 5 April, instructions also arranged transfers between ships, including 600 tons from Hanazuki to Yamato. An order to transfer oil is evidence of the intended transaction. Without the corresponding receipt or final inventory, it does not prove how much arrived. YT-Y05
Two postwar figures
Admiral Toyoda later recalled a fuel provision of 2,500 tons for the force in explaining the decision to send it out. His testimony is important, but it is a retrospective account of the operation, with other details needing comparison. It is not Yamato’s bunker return. YT-Y07
An early postwar draft from the United States Strategic Bombing Survey repeats Toyoda’s explanation. Immediately afterwards, outside his quotation, it describes an operational allocation of 7,000 tons, with provision for a return passage at 20 knots and four hours of full-speed combat. The passage does not identify its informant or give Yamato’s individual load. It must not be attributed to Toyoda simply because it follows his words. YT-Y14
This changes how confidently the familiar one-way claim can be used. A return allowance appears in early survey material, rather than only in a much later recollection. Yet an allowance still does not tell us the final quantity of usable fuel aboard each ship.
What can be compared?
| Evidence | What it describes | What it does not establish |
|---|---|---|
| Tokuyama restriction | Fuel allowed to load | All fuel already aboard Yamato |
| Ship-to-ship instructions | Ordered transfers | Completed deliveries |
| Toyoda’s 2,500 tons | A witness’s account of provision for the force | A measured departure inventory |
| Survey draft’s 7,000 tons | An operational allocation and return allowance | Yamato’s individual load or an assured return |
The often-repeated claim that Yamato carried 4,000 tons also needs qualification. Kobayashi’s relevant memoir has been traced to Suikō, No. 337, December 1981, but the article pages have not yet been obtained and compared with the circulating text. A catalogue confirms that a publication exists; it does not verify the numbers attributed to it. YT-Y15
The conclusion the evidence supports
We should not state that Yamato physically carried only enough fuel for a one-way voyage as an uncontested fact. Neither should we replace it with a confidently precise alternative load.
Fuel sufficient for a calculated return would not have supplied fighter cover, prevented flooding or guaranteed a safe route home. The mission’s prospects depended on much more than the contents of the bunkers.