The Attack of Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941 in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. This surprise attack, consisting of 361 planes being launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers, targeted the American naval base and airfields (Background Essay). It leaves the question of why did Japan attack Pearl Harbor. There were at least three reasons why the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. These reasons were Japan wanting more power and respect, The United States taking away Japan's resources, and Japan feeling threatened by the United States. All of these reasons created tension between the two countries and led to Japan attacking Pearl Harbor.
Japan wanted more power. From an excerpt of The Way of the Subjects (required reading in Japanese schools), “An old order…(European and American)…is now crumbling. The ideals of Japan … are represented by the principle that the benevolent rule of the Emperor may be
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In 1940, President Roosevelt moved the US Pacific fleet from California to Pearl Harbor. The US congress also passed the Naval Expansion Act, promising to triple their fleet size by 1944 (Doc C). Japan did not want the US in the Pacific. They also did not like that the US was expanding their own naval fleet while taking away all of their useful resources. The movement and potential expansion of the US naval fleet angered Japan. This comment was made in a meeting of Japan’s top government and military leaders, “When I think about the strengthening of American defenses in the Southwest Pacific, the expansion of the American fleet, … I see no end to difficulties … I fear that we would become a third class nation after two or three years if we just sat tight” (Doc E). Japan felt that if America grew stronger, it would destroy their plan to establish a new order in the world. They were afraid that the strengthening and expansion of the American fleet would result in them having even less power and respect than they started