[Hugin]

Yamamoto made no such boast — the quote was taken out of context from a private letter in which he had made precisely the opposite point.

And for the record, before someone posts it, Yamamoto never said invading America was impossible because there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.

[henkster]

And he also didn’t say that the Pearl Harbor attack had woken the sleeping giant. But in predicting the course of the war, he did predict six months of success but could not promise anything after that.

[wastoute]

Ditto

[jmacusa]

What Yamamoto did say in regards to his nation’s decision to go war against the United States and the dubious results of the Pearl Harbor attack was “All we have done I fear, is awakened a sleeping giant and filled him with a terrible resolve’’. Yeah brother, he wasn’t kidding. The folks in Hiroshima and Nagasaki would sure find that out in time.

[Talisker]

And for the record, before someone posts it, Yamamoto never said invading America was impossible because there would be a rifle behind every blade of grass.

Why because Wikipedia says so? There's a bastion of valid American research for you. In fact, 5 seconds on Google found at least this, though the author is obviously loathe to admit it. Nevertheless, it appeared he did indeed say it in an interview, and therefore probably off the record as well.

There is some poorly documented evidence that Yamamoto, in an alleged interview with a small New England newspaper, when asked if the Japanese intended to invade the US responded with the "blade of grass" quote.

[Larry Lucido]

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