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[sigh]
The Japanese Premier never made any such overtures. It was done in his name without his knowledge.
The only common request in the 40-page dossier that MacArthur gave Roosevelt in February 1945 was that the Emporer would remain head of state. Note, it wasn't that his life would be spared, it was that he would remain head of state. Those aren't mutually exclusive - after all, he'd have to be alive to serve - but the request, which was one among many, was that Hirohito would remain emporer. Those making the offers weren't so much worried about anarchy as continuation of Japanese sovereignty and tradition. After all, the Japanese had started the war hoping for a negotiated end to it and hoping to retain some of what they conquored or the liberation of some of the colonies. They just started the war in a way that roused the giant and continued to persecute it in a way that failed to engender any respect.
Fishing boats would have been a big source of the fleet to move the troops, but they would have used their civilian ferries and their remaining merchant fleet, ragtag as it was.
One other thing that I just caught - the Japanese air force was still a going concern. They had planes and pilots left in the last days. They were just stockpiling the gasoline to run them in anticipation of the invasion.
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