Following the successful surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, why didn't the Empire of Japan immediately invade the Hawaiian islands?
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Considering that the Japanese leadership harbored ambitions of invading the Western United States, and the Hawaiian islands would be at no time more vulnerable than immediately following the Pearl Harbor attack, why did the Imperial Japanese Navy essentially withdraw following the attack, waiting to be pursued by the United States? Meanwhile, weren't the Hawaiian islands of crucial strategic importance, being the mainstay of American power in the Pacific? Meanwhile, if the Japanese military did not have the wherewithal to invade the Hawaiian islands, shouldn't this have made the leaders question the wisdom of beginning a war against the United States?
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Answer:
Any talk about invading the western US was just that - talk. Invading mainland US was never on the cards. On the other hand, invading several countries in SE Asia were on the cards. They didn't have the resources to invade Hawaii and the Philippines, and Malaysia and Burma and Singapore and... You get the idea. They thought they could deliver a serious enough blow to the US that they would have time to take and defend the many places in Asia they did invade. It didn't quite work out as they hoped.
Sed Chapman at Quora Visit the source
Other answers
You underestimate the profound distances involved. The Japanese fleet were able to attack Pearl because they sailed under radio silence for weeks in a blank spot in LORAN coverage. The IJN was under no illusions: this was a one-time suckerpunch. The lines of communication were just too long to invade. And now that we knew they were coming, we were actively seeking them out to destroy them. BTW, they did invade some of the Alaskan islands. Not many people talk about that, but it was a bad time for everyone up there. Attu, I want to say?
Sophia de Tricht
The Idea of the strike on Pearl harbor was to put the United States navy out of action, and NOT to seize territory. While the Japenese Imperial Goverment would be happy to own Hawaii ( Nice beaches, Luas and lots of Fruit and Sugar ) They were in no position to hold Hawaii, as that required them to use precious manpower on a far away front. Japan could get land in Asia at a lesser price, What they needed was Metals and Oils, Which is why they wanted the Americans to not be able to fight back while they invaded Indonesia
Max Osman
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