pearl harbor?

Question

Can anyone tell me why Japan attacked Pearl Harbor?
I think we had maps of the world back then, and anyone could see that we are a LOT BIGGER than Japan. So any attack, would piss us off where we would then come over from California and squash them. I would think!
So we most have done something to piss off Japan first.
And, after the planned two attacks, what was Japan going to do next? Sail away? Set up Japan as the new government in Hawaii?
Or what?
Personally it would be like Bahamas attacking Florida. The first day we are caught off guard (back then, no radar, etc.), but the second day we would be getting everyone together to go over, as soon as we could, and clobber them a lot worse! That attack by Japan just did not make any sense to me. They clobber ONE naval base, we clobbered ALL OVER their country.

Answer 1

HEY DAVID............How are you this fine evening? Let me say something before I share "my knowledge" of that dreadful day with you, your question was well written, you came across as someone interested of that event in our history. Let me say, that I mean no disrespect to Mr. Daniel E. for giving you Wikipedia's views on the event.......good job, he was smart enough to know where to look it up......but maybe,,just maybe, I can give you a human point of view of that day, something Mr. E. or Wikipedia can't do. Some of Yamamoto's mission was to cripple the U.S. pacific fleet resting in Honolulu Bay, more than that, his main intent was to draw the U.S.into the war. Two things didn't go his way though, an important part of his mission was to catch the backbone of the U.S. fleet sitting in the bay......the U.S. carriers....which happened to be on shakedown cruises outside of the bay. When the pilots from the first wave returned, the first thing he wanted to know was if they had gotten the carriers, when he asked his air officer about it and he told Yamamoto that there were no carriers in the bay, the man froze.......that alone could have cost him his life.......because that was the main part of the whole trip. I'm getting ahead of myself, that fact alone shook him so badly he made another critical error, all of his junior officers were insisting that they re-arm the planes, it was the chance of a liftime,here he had the mighty U.S. fleet at it's mercy and he didn't go back to finish them off. Another critical error, the other officers and men didn't understand, didn't know what he knew, him and the Emperor, he knew that all they really did was to put some real big holes in Honolulu Bay.......while the three baddest carriers in the world still roamed the oceans. He knew that they had to get back to Japan............now. He finally spoke to his men, it was actually the first time he spoke at all. It turned out to be historical, he was only heard on his flag ship, but they pieped it in to the other ships in the convoy these were Yamamoto's words " I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant.......and filled him with a terrible resolve", Yamamoto-December 7, 1941. A few years later it was those three carriers that broke Japan's back at Midway and started the begining of the end. I did my best David, with this and Daniel's piece you've got a pretty answer to your question. LATER!!!!!

Answer 2

It was, basically, a big gamble.

Japan wanted resources, ESPECIALLY oil. Since the US decided to embargo oil and other military-essential resources due to the war in China (eight years of fighting), the only other major source would be the Dutch East Indies (most of which is now called Indonesia).

The problem was the military forces the other powers had in the area - particularly the US Army (in the Philippines, then US Territory) and the US Navy (in Pearl Harbor, Hawaiian Islands).

THEREFORE, the only way to guarantee being able to attack, take, and HOLD the oil fields (as well as get other raw materials) was to strike the US bases in the Philippines and Hawaii. If they could knock out both with a single, quick blow - they would succeed.

...but they didn't. The carriers of the US Pacific Fleet weren't at Pearl Harbor on December 7th - leaving them free to take vengeance on the Imperial Japanese Fleet at the Battle of Midway the following year.

Answer 3

The Japanese thought that Pres. Roosevelt was going to use US warships to interdict their oil supply from Indonesia.

Apparently, the Japanese Government thought that a crushing blow against the US Fleet would prevent it from cutting off Japan's oil. They were wrong. Just 4 months after Pearl Harbor, US carrier planes decimated a Japanese task force in the Battle of Midway.

The person who asked this question should read a little history. Even today Japan is the 2nd greatest economic power in the world, exceeded in GDP only by the US.

Answer 4

The intent of the attack on Pearl Harbor was to neutralize American naval power in the Pacific, if only temporarily, as part of a theater-wide, near-simultaneous coordinated attack against several different countries. Yamamoto himself expected that even a successful attack would gain only a year or so of freedom of action before the U.S. fleet recovered enough to check Japanese advances. Preliminary planning for a Pearl Harbor attack in support of military advance elsewhere began in January 1941, and, after some Imperial Navy factional infighting, the project was finally judged worthwhile. Training for the mission was under way by mid-year. The planned attack depended primarily on torpedoes, but the weapons of the time required deep water to function if air-launched. This was a critical problem because Pearl Harbor is shallow, except in dredged channels. Over the summer of 1941, Japan secretly created and tested torpedo modifications that could be expected to work properly in a shallow water drop. The effort resulted in the Type 95 torpedo which inflicted most of the damage to U.S. ships during the attack. Japanese weapons technicians also produced special armor-piercing bombs by fitting fins on 14 and 15 inch (356 and 381 mm) naval gun shells. These were able to penetrate the armored decks of battleships and cruisers when dropped from 10,000 feet (3,000 m), if they could actually hit them.

Answer 5

The Japanese decision to bomb Pearl Harbor was based on sound judgment, was stunningly rational and simple, and based on the best information available at the time.

By the late 1930's Japan imported 80% of its oil from the US (FACT!). When Japan moved into oil rich Indochina in 1941, the US responded with a total oil embargo. The Japanese knew they needed a stable source of oil to fuel their territorial ambitions in mainland Asia (China, Mongolia, Korea, and the big prize- Siberia), but they could not count on the US as a strategic oil supplier. A Japanese controlled Indochina could supply the oil, but the US threatened the Southeast Asian shipping lanes with its Pacific fleet. Thus the attack on Pearl Harbor was to knock out the US naval capabilities in the Pacific. The Japanese had no intention of invading the US mainland, only expelling America from its sphere of influence in the Far East.

The Japanese calculated that the Americans would be too preoccupied with the Nazis in Europe to bother them for many years. This would allow the Japanese to build a large fleet capable of defending their Southeast Asian possessions indefinitely. They felt, like most aggressor countries at the time, that the Americans were weak and lazy and did not want to fight, only to do business and make profits. In this calculation they were mistaken.

In World War II the US divided its resources between two fronts, the Atlantic (European) and Pacific (Japanese) theaters. US war planners made accurate determinations of the amounts of men and materiel that would be necessary to fight these two wars simultaneously. The US clobbered Japan in the Pacific theater with only 15% of its war resources. The other 85% were allocated to defeating Hitler.

There are many lessons from WWII that America should heed today but it seems we have forgotten them. Dictators and madmen cannot be appeased because the only language they know is military might. Today our enemies again judge that America is weak. The radical left and its lapdog, the drive-by mainstream media, has dedicated itself to the appeasement of our enemies, to cut and run from threats, and to weaken our country so we can be defeated militarily. These forces must be opposed at all costs. We must win in Iraq, we must help our ally Israel, and we must bomb Iranian nuclear facilities to dust.

Answer 6

The Japanese, Germans, and Italians had all allied under the banner of white supremacy (I'm not sure how that happened!) They had managed to get control of most of Europe, a lot of Northern Africa, all of Korea, a lot of China, and a whole bunch of that splattery land down in the water around Southeast Asia.

The Japanese, German, and Italians were fighting mainly the British (Britain included Great Britain, Canada, Australia, some of Africa, and India, among others) French (France included much of North Africa, and a lot of islands in the pacific), Russian, and Chinese.


America had been officially neutral in the war, but was supplying weapons to Britain, France, and Russia. This really bothered them, because between Russia and Britain's holdings, it was realy tough to get stuff between Germany and Japan. America itself however, was completely separated from all the wars by oceans.

Germany and Japan figured that if they could get America to fight, the European forces wouldn't get as many weapons sent to them, and then they could maybe take Australia, or India, or Russia, and have a better way of transporting goods and troops to each other.

Japan was worried about America, but mainly they were worried about America's aircraft carriers, which could roll up and bomb any island the Japanese should take... or bomb japan itself... or send paratroopers, which would definitely outnumber the japanese forces.

Without those aircraft, and the aircraft carriers, Japan figured America wouldn't be able to do much to them, and they could go on with taking over Australia, and Asia, and get a good line of supply through to the German and Italian forces... Effectively giving Japan, Germany, and Italy four continents, against North America and South America... where Hitler had managed to get a certain amount of local support to begin with.

So, when Japan heard that the US had parked a lot of their aircraft in the middle of a certain runway, and had stationed a lot of aircraft carriers in Pearl Harbor around a US holiday, they figured they had a major chance to screw America, and get their stuff together in the old world... But it just so happened that a lot of the aircraft carriers were out on practice runs when the Japanese hit, and all they really got were a bunch of battle ships... which were nearly obsolete to begin with at the time.

Answer 7

Japan hoped to deal us a serious blow by attacking Pearl Harbor where our entire Pacific fleet had holed up for the weekend. Unknown to the Japanese was the fact that IF they had then decided to attack the west coast of the United States, we were virtually defenseless. And, lest you forget, we did NOT clobber Japan in the Pacific. It was a long, hard-fought war, and the Japanese were equal to the task until President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on them. That virtually forced the surrender and ended the war in the Pacific.

Chow!!

Answer 8

Japan's main goal was to cripple U.S.'s aircraft carriers to impede naval movement, while they conquerd the rest of Asia.

It certainly aroused the U.S. The dangers were very apparent to the Japanese military. I think there is a real quote where a Japansese naval cammander who participated in the attack said something like "I can promise you a good show for six months, after six months than then it might not be well"

Actually the radar was existant.

Japan's failure to win the war was their lack of man power and resources, they certainly had quite a formidable military in terms of technical prowess and zeal. They were spread too thin that's all. Ambition is as far as men will take you :P

Answer 9

They attacked us, and nearly decimated us in one swift move.

It was also not the ONLY time we were attacked by them.

Ever hear of the Japanese Fugo Bombing Balloons?

"It is estimated that about 9,000 of the balloons were launched by Japan between November, 1944 and April, 1945, but it is believed that less than 500 of them actually reached U.S. territory, with most of the rest self-destructing over, or falling into, the sea. Of those that did reach land, some were seen exploding in the air and others were found on the ground in remote areas, usually with the bomb loads missing but occasionally with some bombs still attached. The balloons reached Alaska, Canada, Mexico and 16 U.S. states, travelling as far east as Michigan and Texas. Most of the balloons were sighted or found in British Columbia, Washington state, Oregon, California, and Montana. Several minor forest fires, in California and Oregon, were possibly caused by the balloons, but this was never completely verified.

Sadly, the balloons, while largely ineffectual, did claim some victims:

A woman and five children, on a church picnic, were killed in a remote area near Bly, Oregon, after they discovered a downed balloon with a bomb still attached, and one of them moved the bomb, causing it to explode. These deaths were the only known fatalities on the U.S mainland from enemy attack during World War II."

Also, you are forgetting something VERY important.

In 1941, the United States was NOT a "Super Power". Actually, we were fence sitters, and we refused to do ANYTHING despite all that was going on in Europe. Basically, as long as we were left alone, we didn't care who was killing who.

The attack at Pearl Harbor pushed us into 2 wars.

Answer 10

We embargoed oil that we had been selling to Japan because of the atrocities they were committing in China. (It was near genocide).

Japan, hoping to dominate all of southwestern asia decided they had to have more oil. It was the general concensus among the high ranking officials in Imperial Japan that the U.S. would quickly fold and sue for peace if they were attacked. Pearl Harbor was chosen because it was the nearest U.S. possession AND was the home of the Pacific Fleet.

And that is exactly what they did. Admiral Yamamoto, who had been university educated in America, had seen first hand the industrial might in America and he knew the might with which we could strike back.


After Pearl Harbor Admiral Yamamoto said, "I fear all that we have done is awaken a sleeping giant and fill him with a terrible resolve."

p.s. The balloon bombs didn't come into play until 1945. A desperate attempt to damage our lumbering industry in the northwestern states.

p.p.s. I graduated from school in a small town in Texas. One of those bombs fell in the school yard in March of 1945. Thus, my old hometown is the only town in Texas to suffer aerial bombardment by Imperial Japan.