Strategic motives: the purpose of the attack on Pearl Harbor was to neutralize American naval power in the Pacific, if only temporarily, so Japan could have it's way in southeast Asia. The Japanese move into southern Indo-China, beginning in mid-1941, provoked the major Powers in the area into action, more than the diplomatic protest notes which had been the usual for nearly a decade: the United States, with Britain and the Dutch colonial government, imposed an embargo on strategic materials, in particular oil and steel, to Japan in July. This threat to the Japanese economy (and to the military's supplies) was intended to force a reconsideration of the move into Indo-China and perhaps even to the negotiating table. Roosevelt's decision to leave the Fleet in Pearl (closer to Japan than the US West coast, and so an increase in threat) is said to have been part of this response. Roosevelt regarded it as sufficiently important to relieve Admiral Kimmel's predecessor, Admiral Richardson, when he protested the decision. The US, and other Powers', reactions seem instead to have increased the Japanese military's commitment to a conquer and exploit approach against areas holding the resources endangered by the new embargo. With very limited oil production and minimal refined fuel reserves, Japan faced a real, and serious, problem. The Japanese leadership took the embargo as the stimulus to activate plans to seize supplies of strategic material in Asia, particularly southeast Asia. They could not expect the United States to remain passive when those plans were activated; it was this which had already led Admiral Yamamoto to consider ways to preemptively neutralize American power in the Pacific. His idea of an attack on the naval base at Pearl Harbor was a tactic intended to help achieve this strategic goal. Japanese sources indicate that Yamamoto began to think about a possible strike at Pearl very early in 1941, and that, after some preliminary studies, had managed to get approval to start preliminary operational planning for it some months later. There was substantial opposition to any such operation within the Japanese Navy, and at one point Yamamoto threatened to resign if the operational planning were stopped. Permission to actually set up the operation was given in late summer at an Imperial Conference attended by the Emperor, and permission to actually stage the force into the Pacific in preparation for the attack was given at another Imperial Conference, also attended by the Emperor, in November. The November decision included recall of Nagumo's force only if the US agreed with essentially all of Japan's demands. In terms of its strategic objectives the attack on Pearl Harbor was, in the short to medium term, a spectacular success which eclipsed the wildest dreams of its planners and has few parallels in the military history of any era. For the next six months, the United States Navy was unable to play any significant role in the Pacific War. With the US Pacific Fleet essentially out of the picture, Japan was free of worries about the other major Pacific naval power. It went on to conquer southeast Asia, the entire southwest Pacific and to extend its reach far into the Indian Ocean. (subtracted and edited from Wikipedia)

It is also worthy of noting that Yamamoto really didn't want to go to war with the US. He had spent a significant amount of time here and knew what we were capable of doing if the need arose. He knew that there was no way that Japan could match US industry. He is credited with saying that, if the attack on Perl Harbor were to succeed, Japan would then have 6 months to pretty much do as they pleased in the Pacific, but that the US would then come back and destroy them. With this in mind what the Japanese leader ship really hoped to gain from the attack was the ability to gain a lot of territory in that six months and then negotiate a peace treaty that would allow them to keep some of it, particularly those parts that would provide the resources that they needed. What they didn't count on was our insistence on unconditional surrender. It should also be noted that, while the attack was a spectacular success, it actually was not as big of a success as Yamamoto had hoped for. This is because they did not get our aircraft carriers. When Yamamoto heard about this, he said, "I fear that we have succeeded in waking the sleeping giant a filled him with a terrible resolve." In this as in the above mentioned prediction Yamamoto proved to be quite accurate. It is obvious that he did truly understand the enemy that he faced. Response to Hungry Guy: My answer is just meant to add more information to the answers posted prior to this one. The others pretty well covered the over all reasons for the attack. My intentions was to give a bit more information about Yamamoto and the rather untenable position in which he found himself. Loyalty to the emperor forced him to start a war that he knew he couldn't win. I have a lot of respect for him. He was a great tactician. It's just to bad that he chose to fight for the wrong side. ************ "Tom Rivard: Japan had Korea, Manchuria, and parts of China. Indochina and Dutch oil ez pickups; US public opposed;why attack?" Why did Japan attack us? Because they were not satisfied with what they already had. They also wanted the Philippines, Malaysia, an most of the rest of that part of the world. At that time in particular, the Philippines were under the protection of the US. So, in order to expand in that direction Imperial Japan had to eliminate the US as a threat. So they attacked us.

The United States of America had slapped a heavy oil embargo on Japan which is the main reason Japan attacked Pearl Harbor.

Expanding on all the previous answers, the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor hoping to eliminate the ability of the US to threaten their invasion of southeast Asia. They had to invade southeast Asia to seek resources (particularly oil) that couldn't be purchased due to the American embargo. The US had placed the embargo in response to the Sino-Japanese War. The Japanese were fighting the Chinese over Manchuria, which the Japanese had siezed following charges of terrorist attacks on Japanese owned rail lines in the area.

I would say that although the US declaration of war resulted from the attack, the Empire of Japan attacked the US to keep them out of the war. The war plans of the Japanese Navy in conflict with the US were drawn up while the Battleship was still king. The IJN anticipated that the US navy battlrship fleet would sail to the Manila in the Phillipines to operate against Japanese interests from there. During its voyage to the Southwest Pacific, the IJN would constantly harass the US fleet with submarines and airstrikes coordinated from a dense netork of air and sub stations throughout the pacific. By the time the US fleet reaches the Phillipines, they would be low on supplies, exhausted, understrength and ready for the "Critical Battle" that would decide the war. The strike at Pearl Harbor was an attempt to so weaken the US fleet that hey wouldn't even attempt to attack Japanese interests until it was too late. As history records, the attempt was only partially successful and did not prevent the US from sailing to the Phillipines.

to summarize what Glenn had said, the Japanese were in a hole that they had dug themselves into while wanting to take the malaisian islands along with the philipines. They were cut off from their resources that they needed to continue the war that they had started. The only thing that stood in their way of taking other countrys such as China and the islands was Hawaii. Thus Pearl Harbor. = )

to summarize what Glenn had said, the Japanese were in a hole that they had dug themselves into while wanting to take the malaisian islands along with the philipines. They were cut off from their resources that they needed to continue the war that they had started. The only thing that stood in their way of taking other countrys such as China and the islands was Hawaii. Thus Pearl Harbor. = )

WHAT ABOUT WW1 WHEN WODROW WILSON TALKED THE BRITS INTO DUMPING THEM AS A ALI AND NOT GIVING THEM WHAT THEY WERE PROMMISSEDAFTER THERE HELP IN WW1 THINK THAT HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH IT.

One comment missing from these postings is the answer to the question of why did the U.S. care so much about China in the first place? A special relationship had developed between the U.S. and China, going as far back as the turn of the Century when a turbulent China began to emerge as fledgling Republic. In the 1930's, American President Franklin Delano Roosevelt wanted to see Democracy succeed in Asia and placed high hopes in China. For more on the subject see: "For the Survival of Democracy: Franklin Roosevelt and the World Crisis of the 1930s" by Alonzo L. Hamby.

"The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor for different reasons: - President Roosevelt had banned all exports of scrap iron, steel and oil to Japan. The reason for the embargo was the Japanese invasion of China. Japan had lost more than 90% of its oil supply. This crippled their economy and military. - The belief that Western powers were hostile to Japan. - The United States wanted Japan to withdraw from Indo-China. - The US opposed Japanese expansion and Japan’s demands were not being achieved by diplomacy. - The Japanese were keen on expanding their empire and had to make a decision between surrendering or going to war with the United States. - They wanted the US to acquiesce to their expansion into Asia. - Pearl Harbor was the home of the U.S. Pacific Fleet. Japan did not want the U.S. in the war because the U.S at this time had the greatest Naval force. They concluded that if the Pacific Fleet was destroyed, Americans would feel demoralized and not want to fight. - The belief that Japan could defeat the United States. They convinced themselves that a devastating attack would dishearten the Americans and lead to cracks in the fabric of the American society that would threaten its stability." Source and further information: http://www.buzzle.com/articles/why-did-japan-attack-pearl-harbor.html Further information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Attack_on_Pearl_Harbor

Poor eyesight small brains and even smaller penises made the Japs think they could strike a harmfull blow to the mighty US fighting force. They also invented methamphetamine so they could have been tweeked.

The US wanted to treat Japan like every other "banana republic" they wanted to trample them, take their resources, and give them pennies on the dollar for exclusive rights. Japan said NO, NO WAY, and that was not acceptable to the USA.

These answers sound like the news of the day, its like believing CNN. WWII was a scam to change the global reserve currencies. Japan was an ally in WWI, so I suspect the Japan USA conflict was staged to bring the USA into the war. It’s mind-boggling when you find out that the CIA knew the attack was coming, but ‘forgot’ to tell their military. Japan, like Hitler invades some poor defenseless country, the allies ‘save them’, and take their central banks and minerals, that’s the game, its a scam. The war on terrorism is the same scam. The key to unraveling the deception is to look at who controlled (still controls) all the central banks in these countries. The same people, before WWII, controlled the central banks of USA, Japan, Australia, South Africa, Germany, and UK! War is always a lie; these central bankers kill us to plunder countries. It is highly likely that your central bank is financing the person you fighting. http://www.freelists.org/post/harbor/World-View Good question: Now watch the history channel, is full of holes.

Why did Japan attack USA in 1941? Have you read the article by Mr. Patrick Buchanan in the following site? http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=25637 What is YOUR opinion about his article?