Anatomy of Yamato

7. Living Conditions
Yamato had a reputation as the most comfortable ship in the Japanese navy. For part of the war, she was the navy's flagship and home to the highest naval commanders, who were catered to. But even low-ranking sailors fared well—eating white rice rather than barley—because Yamato spent many months in port. She was the first Japanese warship equipped with air conditioning, although it didn't cool all living quarters. There was also relative elbow room for her crew of 2,800 men: 10 square feet of living space per man, compared to only three to four square feet on Japanese destroyers.