Factcheck, which we recent discussed, says:

http://www.factcheck.org/2009/05/misquoting-yamamoto/

Advocates of gun rights often argue that in World War II Japan was deterred from invading the U.S. mainland by a fear of American citizens with guns in their closets. They frequently quote Japan’s Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto as saying: "You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."

But this quote is unsubstantiated and almost certainly bogus, even though it has been repeated thousands of times in various Internet postings. There is no record of the commander in chief of Japan’s wartime fleet ever saying it.

Are there any other references for this?

Factcheck plays the "neutrality card" and also says:

We make no argument either for or against gun ownership.  But we do object to fabricating quotes and passing them off as historical fact.

I am interested in the quote as well as I have heard it many times.

I think there are logic problems with the quote though.

For starters, for Japan to invade the mainland USA would be very difficult simply given the long expanse of ocean between them. And if they did, what benefit would it give them?

Secondly, the Japanese did actually invade the USA so clearly the thought that there was a gun behind every blade of grass (if the quote is true) wasn't a very good deterrent.

I am interested in the quote as well as I have heard it many times.

I think there are logic problems with the quote though.

For starters, for Japan to invade the mainland USA would be very difficult simply given the long expanse of ocean between them. And if they did, what benefit would it give them?

Secondly, the Japanese did actually invade the USA so clearly the thought that there was a gun behind every blade of grass (if the quote is true) wasn't a very good deterrent.

Logic?

Pearl did not get invaded by ground forces, so fear of a US armed public was not a concern.  The deterrence was talking about a ground invasion of the mainland US.

As for the logistics, Japan hit Pearl in hopes of destroying our Navy.  They took many islands as stepping stones to stage a maniland invasion from.  Without a Navy, the US would not have been able to stop the build up by Japan at Midway, Iwo Jima, and any other islands they wanted as supply bases.  We were lucky they missed a few ships out at sea.

Logic?

Pearl did not get invaded by ground forces, so fear of a US armed public was not a concern.  The deterrence was talking about a ground invasion of the mainland US.

As for the logistics, Japan hit Pearl in hopes of destroying our Navy.  They took many islands as stepping stones to stage a maniland invasion from.  Without a Navy, the US would not have been able to stop the build up by Japan at Midway, Iwo Jima, and any other islands they wanted as supply bases.  We were lucky they missed a few ships out at sea.

Japan did do a ground invasion of the USA, thus the logic behind the alleged quote obviously did not serve as a deterrent.

Japan did do a ground invasion of the USA, thus the logic behind the alleged quote obviously did not serve as a deterrent.

Please educate me, when did Japan do a ground invasion of USA in WW2?

Please educate me, when did Japan do a ground invasion of USA in WW2?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign


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https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleutian_Islands_Campaign


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Mahalo. I was not aware of that, but I was actually wondering more about CONUS. Anyway, still good to know.

A friend and I were having a conversation along the lines of this quote the other day.  He said something like "there are more guns in the US than people".  When he said it, my thoughts were that I wouldn't be that surprised of that was the case, but I didn't think so.

It's probably difficult to determine with even ok accuracy how many guns are in circulation in the US, but it seems like data appears to indicate that there are more guns in the US than people. 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2015/10/05/guns-in-the-united-states-one-for-every-man-woman-and-child-and-then-some/

https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/2015/07/dean-weingarten/how-many-guns-are-there-in-america/

Some of y'all must have a lot of guns.     For every gun that I have, I probably know at least 5 people that don't own guns. 

Just so every knows, when I first heard this I was told it was Stalin who said it. 

Japan did do a ground invasion of the USA, thus the logic behind the alleged quote obviously did not serve as a deterrent.

You are actually not correct in your conclusion.

The quote is

"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."

You are actually not correct in your conclusion.

The quote is

"You cannot invade mainland United States. There would be a rifle behind each blade of grass."

Is Alaska not the mainland? Would Japan in wartime make that distinction based on such semantics?

Maybe since it was snowing there wasn't any grass for the armed Americans to hide behind so they felt safe to invade!

Is Alaska not the mainland? Would Japan in wartime make that distinction based on such semantics?

Maybe since it was snowing there wasn't any grass for the armed Americans to hide behind so they felt safe to invade!

Mainland of what? Alaska was not a state yet. How could they know back then that 20 years later Alaska would become a part of the U.S.?

The quote was "...Mainland United States. So no, Alaska is NOT the mainland based on the quote.

Is Alaska not the mainland? Would Japan in wartime make that distinction based on such semantics?

Maybe since it was snowing there wasn't any grass for the armed Americans to hide behind so they felt safe to invade!

Based on most of your comment, you're being an idiot.  I can't decide if it is intentional, or if you can't help it!

The CONTIGUOUS 48 US STATES are the mainland. 

Based on most of your comment, you're being an idiot.  I can't decide if it is intentional, or if you can't help it!

The CONTIGUOUS 48 US STATES are the mainland.

Forget it, this clown is a troll that hangs out here to endlessly argue.

He reminds me of the pics with one oddball character in a group and the caption "Which one does not belong?"

Rember at the time America only included Alaska and Hawaii as territories, They were not part of The United states. So what he said would of only applied to what we now call "The Mainland"

Forget it, this clown is a troll that hangs out here to endlessly argue.

He reminds me of the pics with one oddball character in a group and the caption "Which one does not belong?"

Yeah, that's the picture I'm getting.  Everytime he's proved wrong, he tries to lie or comes up with some tangential point that in his eyes proves you wrong, making what he typed less wrong.  Heck, most of what he posts I find the opposite is true.  Takes about 2 seconds on Google!  Why can't he take a minute to do the same before posting blatantly false comments?

I see a few on here have lots of patience with him.  I don't think I can be one of them.  Pathetic way to have adult conversations about deadly force and political realities that are life changing for all of us.

Based on most of your comment, you're being an idiot.  I can't decide if it is intentional, or if you can't help it!

The CONTIGUOUS 48 US STATES are the mainland.

I was clearly making a joke and you are taking this way to seriously all for what end? To prove there is logic behind a quote that might not even be real? I showed why the logic didn't hold and you went off on a technicality about what constituted the "mainland"

I made a simple comment about the original topic, giving my reasoning, and you trolled it up to be some big issue. Then you have the gall to call me a liar and imply I am the troll? You are getting to be as bad as robtmc.

I was clearly making a joke and you are taking this way to seriously all for what end? To prove there is logic behind a quote that might not even be real? I showed why the logic didn't hold and you went off on a technicality about what constituted the "mainland"

I made a simple comment about the original topic, giving my reasoning, and you trolled it up to be some big issue. Then you have the gall to call me a liar and imply I am the troll? You are getting to be as bad as robtmc.

I was clearly making a joke and you are taking this way to seriously all for what end? To prove there is logic behind a quote that might not even be real? I showed why the logic didn't hold and you went off on a technicality about what constituted the "mainland"

I made a simple comment about the original topic, giving my reasoning, and you trolled it up to be some big issue. Then you have the gall to call me a liar and imply I am the troll? You are getting to be as bad as robtmc.

Based on most of your comment, you're being an idiot.  I can't decide if it is intentional, or if you can't help it!

Thank you very much for clearing that up!  Now I know   

Maybe that exact quote wasn't used, but I'm sure they (and the Germans) had put some thought about invading a nation that was armed with citizens that had a history of rebellion and independence.  Would have been foolish not to.  I'm not sure how well armed citizens in Hawaii was at the time as the islands were filled with immigrants and probably didn't have a large hunting population.

I saw a documentary on the Germans and found that one of the major factors the US got involved in WWII was Germany was talking to Mexico about starting trouble.