Japan didn’t need to submit to U.S. demands, Ishihara argued, because America relied on Japanese semiconductors. American military strength, he noted, required Japanese chips. “Whether it be mid-range nuclear weapons or inter-continental ballistic missiles, what ensures the accuracy of weapons is none other than compact, high-precision computers,” he wrote. “If Japanese semiconductors are not used, this accuracy cannot be assured.” Ishihara speculated that Japan could even provide advanced semiconductors to the USSR, tipping the military balance in the Cold War.
