Sōkichi Takagi Biography . Takagi was born in what is now part of Hitoyoshi city Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyūshū . He graduated from the 43rd class of the Imperial Japanese Navy Academy in 1915 , ranked 27th out of 96 cadets . He served his midshipman duty aboard the cruiser and the battleship , and was assigned to and after he was commissioned an ensign . Takagi attended Navigation School and was promoted to lieutenant in 1921 , after which he served as chief navigator on the destroyer , submarine tender and patrol vessel " Manshū " . Takagi graduated from Naval War College ( Japan ) in 1927 , upon which he was promoted to lieutenant commander and posted as naval attaché to France until 1930 . After his return , he served as private secretary to the Navy Minister for two years before being appointed commander and instructor of the Naval War College from 1933 to 1936 . In 1937 , Takagi was promoted to captain becoming Chief of the Navy Ministry ' s Research Section . While head of the government organization , Takagi often over - stretched the predefined powers of his office , acting as a political contact for the Navy through government officials and statesmen such as Fumimaro Konoe , Kōichi Kido , and Saionji Kinmochi as well as developing contacts with intellectuals within the government . An opponent of Japan ' s decision to declare war on the United States , Takagi was removed from his position as Chief of the Research Section in 1942 and was reassigned as chief of staff of the Maizuru Naval District . Promoted to rear admiral on 1 May 1943 , in September Takagi ( due to his access and unique knowledge of classified files from his time as chief of the Research Section ) was asked by Navy Minister Shigetarō Shimada to compile a report analyzing Japanese defeats during the Pacific campaign of 1942 . Going far beyond its original purpose , Takagi ' s analysis of combat evidence , conditions in the Japanese home islands , and air and shipping losses as of that year convinced him that Japan ' s defeat was inevitable . Believing the only solution for Japan was the elimination of the Tojo - led government and negotiation of a truce with the United States , Takagi was hesitant to present the report to Shimada , instead beginning planning for the assassination of Prime Minister Hideki Tōjō before his removal from office in July 1944 . As a member of the Navy Staff College ' s Research Department , Takagi was encouraged by the newly appointed Navy Minister Mitsumasa Yonai to compose an ultrasecret document proposing the most favorable scenario for Japan ' s eventual withdrawal from the Pacific , a project he continued working on in cooperation with other government officials until Japan ' s surrender in August 1945 . He later worked with Teiji Yabe , a professor of Tokyo Imperial University , on revising the Japanese constitution in October 1945 . Takagi died in 1979 at his home in Chigasaki , Kanagawa , and his grave is at the temple of Tokei - ji in Kamakura . Bibliography . " Rengō kantai shimatsuki " [ A factual description of the Combined Fleet ] by Rear Admiral Sōkichi Takagi ( Tokyo : Bungei Shunjūsha , 1949 ) , ASIN : B000Jbjed4 [ 完海軍少将高木惣吉著 , 聯合艦隊始末記 ( 東京 : 文藝春秋社 , 1949 ) ]