From Isolation to War and Back
Pearl Harbor attack
What were Japan’s justifications in attacking American forces at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941? Was the attack a surprise to American policymakers?
Overview
Pearl Harbor, a U.S Naval base situated in the Hawaii, was attacked by the Imperial Japanese Navy on the morning of December 7, 1941. Using a fleet of 353 assorted warplanes, the impacts of the attack were dire. Both sides suffered losses though the attack was a mighty blow on the U.S. On the Japan’s side, 185 soldiers were killed while on was captured as a prisoner of war. Equipment lost by Japan was 29 and five warplanes and midget submarine respectively. U.S side bore the blunt of the battle. The Japanese onslaught led to the loss of 2, 408 American lives of which 68 were civilians. The attack destroyed or sunk eight U.S Navy battleships, four destroyers, three cruisers, three auxiliaries and a minelayer. Aircraft destroyed and damaged numbered 169 and 149 respectively.
Japan’s reasons for the Pearl Harbor attack
The fight for natural resources was the driving factor behind the Pearl Harbor attack. Japan’s invasion of Manchuria prepared the battleground for the subsequent wars that would follow involving Japan. After the invasion of Manchuria, Japan started increasing its in China. However, its wasn’t until the Japan’s invasion in French Indochina that the Pearl Harbor attack stage was set. The French Indochina invasion was a move aimed at controlling the China’s importation of supplies from America, a move that angered America, making it to control its oil exports. Figuring out that it had oil stock to drive the country for under two years and that it had no oil fields, Japan ventured on Dutch East Indies invasion plans as it had much of that. Thus, to avoid the interference of its invasion plans by the U.S forces which had been placed between Japan and its insights destruction of the U.S Pacific fleet was crucial and by the time the U.S forces fleet reorganized, they would have claimed the territory.
Another reason was that even though Japan had been planning on attacking U.S territory, other territories were far geographically except Pearl Harbor which the attack leaders figured out would be more effective as they would have to travel lesser distance and could avert the possibility of being detected. Also, Hawaii could have been a passing point if they had to attack the mainland and as they headed back, enemy warplanes could waylay them.
There was another reason, that had came up when on a regular exercise. During a routine torpedo exercise in the spring of 1940, headed by Yamamoto and Rear Admiral Shigeru Fukudome, Yamamoto reportedly whispered “I wonder if an aerial attack can’t be made at Pearl attack?” This, coupled with the fact that Japan had intelligence got from spies in Hawaii such as Japanese Consular officials and spy Takeo Yoshikawa. Later, planner commander Minoru Genda after objecting the plan for many months, had given in, and worked on the plan after negotiations with the U.S were seen as futile.
Another reason suggested was that during Japan’s negotiations with the U.S, the Japan had a hard time trying to convince the U.S that they wouldn’t attack while in real sense, they were on a mission to attack the mainland. However, there were suspicions that they were going to attack and rather than take the risk of the long distance to the mainland, the Japan fleet opted to attack Pearl Harbor.
Surprise attack to American policymakers
The extent of the wanton destruction on military equipment caused by the Japan attack on Pearl Harbor and the many lives of both soldiers and civilians lost, as stated above in the introduction, is a satisfactory prove that the attack was a complete surprise to American policymakers.
Another proof that the Pearl Harbor attack was a surprise one is seen by the fact that U.S never expected a war too close to home and thus, the Pearl Harbor was left undefended (Paul). Also, in his speech made one day after the Pearl Harbor attack on December 8, 1941, the then U.S President Roosevelt said, “Yesterday, December 7th, 1941— a date which will in infamy— the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan.” The reason behind this utterances was that there were already ongoing negotiations between the two nations thus, the attack, by disrupting negotiations was a bolt from the blue.
Lastly, is that while the Japan forces were advancing towards Hawaii, astute Japan ambassadors in Washington, D.C were convincing the U.S government that Japan would not attack. Therefore, when the actions of Japan betrayed its convincing, it surprised the U.S. While Stanley K. Hornbeck was a special adviser to Cordell Hull, the then U.S Secretary of State, he drafted a memo to Hull calling for the relaxation of the sanctions and that there was a possibility of war with Japan (Roberta). Later, writing to Japan in November 26, 1941 directing it to pull out of Southeast Asia and Asia so that the oil embargo could be lifted, the next day Hornbeck wrote, “In the opinion of the undersigned, the Japanese Government does not desire or intend or expect to have forthwith armed conflict with the United States” and that that if was “a matter of placing bets, the undersigned would give odds of five-to-one that Japan and the United States will not be at “war” on or before December 15, 1941, three-to-one odds, three-to-one odds that they wouldn’t be at war on or before January 15, 1942, and even money that they would not be at war on or before March 1, 1942.”
In conclusion, lack of natural resources was keeping Japan on a tight rein and the need for the natural resources only escalated after the U.S embargo to China. Thus, there had to be a way of satisfying the country’s need for them and it was through invasion of the Dutch East Indies. Since the U.S forces in Pearl Harbor was the barrier between it and what Japan had in insight, the attack was inevitable. However, since reportedly Japan was visiting the Americas even in the 1800s, there were deep-sitted reasons for the attack, thus, the Pearl Harbor was the pin the burst the balloon. The unpreparedness of the U.S to the attack was a turning point to its security department as it chart a new course for the U.S tackling of security issues.

Works Cited
Stillwell, P. “Air raid, Pearl Harbor!: recollections of a day of infamy.” Annapolis, MD : Naval Institute Press, 1981.
Wohlstetter, R. “Pearl Harbor: Warning and Decision.” Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1962.