I think we're mostly in agreement. It was a strategic move and it might have helped a lot letting Japan get back on its feet. And it's also the move that left the deep deep nationalism in place and it's still here today.

Perhaps there was no way to have one without the other, but at least I want to look at it as a series of cause and consequences.

Crazy popular anime girl representations of WW2 battleships is the most funniest form of that reality IMHO.