The Japanese fleet was given a covert order to attack Pearl Harbor on November 5, 1941, together with Malaya (now known as Malaysia), the Dutch East Indian Islands, and the Philippines.
Since Japan’s annexation of Chinese India in 1940 and the implied danger to the Philippines, an American reserve, with the occupation of the Cam Rawan naval base some 800 miles from Manila, ties between the United States and Japan have rapidly deteriorated.
All Japanese nationals in the country were taken into custody as part of American retaliation, which also included closing the Panama Canal. In front of the Japanese shipping and in September 1941, President Roosevelt issued a statement formulated by British Prime Minister Winston Churchill threatening the war between the United States and Japan if the Japanese encroach on lands in Southeast Asia or South Pacific, according to Hittor.
Hediki Togo, the Japanese Minister of War who later became Prime Minister, had no intention of withdrawing from the lands that were taken because the American “threat” interpreted the war as a final warning and as a result, prepared to make the first strike in the Japanese American confrontation: bombing of Pearl Harbor. This was despite the ongoing official negotiations between the US Secretary of State and his Japanese counterpart to ease tensions.
In light of the attack on not only the United States and the Philippine Reserve but also the British and Dutch territories in the Pacific Ocean, Tokyo forwarded the issue to all the naval leaders who were concerned about it, signalling that war would be launched against the West.
Sari directed the Japanese fleet to attack the American base in 1941 during Perle Harper’s bombing campaign.
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