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Pearl Harbor views...

Emoni

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20 Sep 2003
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Haven't posted on this section on the forum in a while, so you'll have to excuse the out of the blue posting on such a topic.

I was curious if those who keep up on history and perception based topics (*cough* Glenski *cough*) knew of any good sources for checking into the perception of Pearl Harbor both in the United States and in Japan.

I'm actually very unaware of the "Japanese view" of the event, but fairly aware of the "dirty sneak attack" view that the United States generally holds of the event. I'm curious if those in the know might be able to recommend any good books, or would be generous to share their knowledge and opinions of such differences in views.

Thank you in advance.
 
Haven't posted on this section on the forum in a while, so you'll have to excuse the out of the blue posting on such a topic.
I was curious if those who keep up on history and perception based topics (*cough* Glenski *cough*) knew of any good sources for checking into the perception of Pearl Harbor both in the United States and in Japan.
I'm actually very unaware of the "Japanese view" of the event, but fairly aware of the "dirty sneak attack" view that the United States generally holds of the event. I'm curious if those in the know might be able to recommend any good books, or would be generous to share their knowledge and opinions of such differences in views.
Thank you in advance.

I think most of Japanese people have heard the story that war was planned to be declared before the attack but the Japanese embassy in the US was having a party the night before so that the submission of the document that declared war to the US came after the attack. Also many heard a story that the US intercepted the instructions to the embassy ahead of time. Also, many history books in Japan mention in their analysis of why Japan lost in the war that the attack failed to sink many battle ships or aircraft carriers so that it was not as successful as it had appeared on the surface.

For these reasons, most Japanese views probably do not frame the attack a "dirty sneak attack." I would frame it as a "pathetic sneak attack", but I don't know how others view it.

I cannot provide sources😌, but simply comparing the Japanese and English versions of the Wikipedia can give you a taste of differences in discourse between the two sides. For instance, the Japanese Wikipedia does not mention the word "surprise" in the first paragraph:
真珠湾攻撃(しんじゅわんこうげき、Attack on Pearl Harbor、日本時間1941年12月8日未明、ハワイ時間12月7日)は、休日である日曜日を狙ってハワイオアフ島真珠湾[1]にあったアメリカ海軍の太平洋艦隊と基地に対して、日本海軍が行った航空攻撃である。

当時の日本側呼称はハワイ海戦(布哇海戦)。太平洋戦争(大東亜戦争)緒戦の南方作戦の一環として計画された作戦であり、戦闘の結果、アメリカ太平洋艦隊の戦艦部隊は戦闘能力を喪失した。世界史的には、この攻撃によって第二次世界大戦はヨーロッパ・北アフリカのみならずアジア・太平洋を含む地球規模の戦争へと拡大した。

In contrast, the English page has the word "surprise" in the first paragraph:
The attack on Pearl Harbor (or Hawaii Operation, as it was called by the Imperial General Headquarters)[6] was a surprise military strike conducted by the Japanese navy against the United States' naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii on the morning of Sunday December 7, 1941, later resulting in the United States becoming militarily involved in World War II. It was intended as a preventive action to keep the U.S. Pacific Fleet from influencing the war Japan was planning to wage in Southeast Asia against Britain, the Netherlands, and the United States. The attack consisted of two aerial attack waves totaling 353[7] aircraft, launched from six Japanese aircraft carriers.
 
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