Toa Tora Movie Analysis

On the Japanese side of intelligence, Yamamoto believed to have the element of surprise at Midway, which was thought to draw the Americans out of Pearl Harbor. Yamamoto had numerical naval superiority in the Pacific to defeat the Americans at sea but remained unaware that the code breakers ascertained its operational and strategic plan to attack at Midway. Spector argues that Japanese submarines knew the American forces were planning something at Pearl Harbor, but the intelligence was never passed on to Yamamoto. Additionally, Yamamoto believed that two of the American carriers were sunk at Coral Sea, which the Yorktown was hastily being repaired in Pearl Harbor. In reality, the Japanese had no idea where the American fleet or carriers were leading up to the Battle of Midway.

There were numerous strategic and political reasons that lead to the bombing of Pearl Harbour on December 7th, 1941. However nationalism, militarism and imperialistic notions were key influential factors, which together contributed to the almost complete annihilation of the US Pacific fleet. Based on Japan’s nationalistic beliefs of superiority over Asian nations, the surprise attack attempted to fulfill a change in the balance of power within South East Asia and expose the vulnerability of the West.

December 7, 1941 was one of America’s darkest days. This was the day of the famous pearl harbor bombing. This attack came from the Japanese attacking the American Naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack had been in the planning for many years to attack and weaken the United States Naval force. Japan wanted to do this to gain more superiority in the Atlantic and to grow their ties with European nations. In this paper I will talk about the people, the planning, the attack, and the aftermath of the Pearl Harbor bombing.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt delivered his war speech and asserted December 7, 1941 as, “a date which will live in infamy.” The United States’ naval bases stationed in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii were struck by Japanese planes intentionally and promptly. The news of this attack on the Pearl Harbor shocked the world. It was devastating to the nation that were still in the throes of depression. Witnesses of this event painted a portrait of a nation stunned, but determined to rise again. The United States’ government had not disclosed a Pearl Harbor story to the public--that the U.S. had failed to act on advance information about a planned Japanese attack. Japan 's move against the United States was audacious enough to be considered no more than a slight possibility, although the potential for an attack had been widely discussed.

In January 1941, reports were received that Japan might attack Pearl Harbor but military officials ignored these reports. They considered attacks on the Philippines and other European countries to be more likely, underestimating Japan’s ability to conceal preparations for such an operation. Due to the success of the cryptanalysis machine called, Magic, American leaders started breaking Japanese military operational codes. The codes that were deciphered showed Japan was likely to take some type of military action (Irive). At that time, Japan had only a 12-month supply of petroleum to fuel its economy and war operations left. So the U.S. anticipated Japan would act quickly! The only questions that could not be answered were when and where (Woods). Pearl Harbor had been a major naval base since before 1898. In early

Despite all the success Japan had early in the war, they did not do as much damage to the United States Pacific fleet as they would have like to have done. This gave America a false sense of security at the time when Japan was preparing to take stronger action. Rear Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s plan was to draw in the remaining American ships into an area where they could be attacked and destroyed by a much greater number of Japanese vessels. Admiral Yamamoto thought that if Japan captured valuable territory like the Midway Islands that the United States could not afford to give up, he could destroy the remaining American ships with ease because the Americans would have no supply chain.

As Harry Albright once said, “Underlying every successful naval or military operation there must be a plan,” and after accessing the damage, President Roosevelt would recuperate and strike back. In terms of destruction and fatality, 2300 American servicemen died and 68 civilians perished as well in the attack. Many of the vessels docked in Pearl Harbor were lost or destroyed, 18 of them, and 188 aircraft was damaged (Richardson). The Japanese decided the attack “would come in two waves one hour apart. First target priority would be the large American aircraft carriers, then the battleships and the cruisers,” (Albright p.51).

On December 7, 1941 the infamous bombing of Pearl Harbour by the Japanese took place, but who was really responsible? Many historians lay the blame with President Franklin D Roosevelt (FDR), citing his approach to the war as antagonistic and inciting a Japanese attack. This report however will highlight that the Japanese were the real antagonises, deliberately and purposely attacking the United States (US), United Kingdom and Holland, and Pearl Harbour was but a pawn in their war plan, thus alleviating FDR of the historical responsibility bequeathed to him over the last 70 years. The key elements within this review focus on Japan's Pacific War plans, FDR's

In July 1940, the U.S. placed an embargo on Japan, hoping they would restrain Japan 's military aggression in China. Japan, a proud nation, would not hear of being dictated to by the United States and began to prepare for the attack on Pearl Harbor in early 1941. Meanwhile, there was some warning of the attack on America, but it went without being duly acknowledged. The day before the attack occurred, a code-breaker intercepted a message from the Japanese concerning the movement of ships at Pearl Harbor. The operator relayed the message to the superior officers who said they would get back to the radioman on Monday, December 8, 1941 (Socolow 43). Also, on the morning of the attack, a radar operator saw a large group of airplanes on the radar screen, and when he reported this, the senior officer said it was probably just some US Bombers and not to worry about them (HistoryNet.Com). The Japanese planes flew under the radar by flying through a pass in the mountains called Kolekole Pass. This maneuver added to the surprise of the attack. The frantic attack began on Sunday at 7:55 in the morning. A little before ten the entire attack was over (Pearl Harbor, Attack On). The men of Pearl Harbor fought with valor.

suffered a major defeat at Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet, took advantage of the situation the U.S. was put in after its losses during Pearl Harbor (“Japs Risk Large Naval Units...”). With the backbone of U.S. Pacific Fleet torn out, Japan made several attempts to dominate the Pacific. Japan was anxious to settle their differences with the U.S., so they began risking large naval units in Pacific battles. An article posted in the Los Angeles Time, “Japs Risk Large Naval Units in Blows at U.S.” says, “For the sixth time in six months Japan made a deadly bid to capture the mastery of the Pacific, and for the sixth time she has failed after paying a price that is fast becoming prohibitive,” (“Japs Risk Large Naval Units...”). This article was posted days after the Battle of Midway, on June 7th, 1942 reflecting the actions of the Japanese Navy in the previous months. The Japanese were anxious to pounce on the weakened U.S. after Pearl Harbor, backing their attacks with large naval units. The Japanese felt that they needed to take over Midway Island in order to claim dominance over the U.S. in the Pacific.

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a long, well thought out, complex plan, and the mastermind of the operation was Isoroku Yamamoto. Isoroku Yamamoto made “the Japanese plan simple: Destroy the Pacific Fleet. That way, the Americans would not be able to fight back as Japan’s armed forces spread across the South Pacific” (“Pearl Harbor”). Yamamoto planned to take out the battleships instead of the carriers, because the American public viewed battleships as a naval power. So if they were destroyed it would, America’s morale would be damaged. However, the final plan resulted with the difference of opinions with Genda, the air power expert.Genda wanted to focus the attack on taking out the carriers. Months before the attack, Japanese used radios as

“December 7th, 1941, a date which will live in infamy, the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan” (Roosevelt). Japan surprise attacked the Hawaiian naval base, Pearl Harbor, approximately at 7:55 am. The intent of the Japanese strike was to prevent the U.S. Pacific Fleet from interfering with plans to seize overseas territories belonging to United Kingdom, the Netherlands and the United States.

Tora Tora Tora is a Japanese movie that portrays their side of things in World War II. The title, Tora Tora Tora, was the Japanese codeword used to show that complete surprise had been achieved. In August 1939, a US trade embargo was depriving Japan of raw materials. The Japanese were preparing for war by forming an alliance with Germany and Italy. The Japanese Commander- in- Chief ordered the planning of a surprise attack on the U.S. anchored fleet at Pearl Harbor. Meanwhile the U.S. had managed to break the Japanese code and secret messages. These messages indicated increased naval activity. This led to an increase in U.S. navy patrols. As months passed, tensions increased. On the day of the attack, the U.S. decoded a message that talked

On a pleasant and beautiful Sunday, December 7, 1984, Japan implemented a surprise attack on the US Naval Base in Pearl Harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii which gave United States a door to enter into World War II. Even though Japan did not follow through with the attack causing the third wave of bombers to break contact from dropping bombs to finish off the rest of the fleet docking in Pearl Harbor, it was a well prepared, and carefully orchestrated attack on the Americans because the Japanese followed almost all the nine Principles of War. However there was one principle that the Japanese did not executed causing them to surrender later on in World War II.

Tora! Tora! Tora!, was a feature film in the 70's that produced by 20th Century Fox. Unfortunately, this movie was considered a flop in the united states in the 70’s; due to the estimated production cost of $25 million, and at the box office, it produces a little less than $30 million. During the year, it is considered a dramatic genre to historical sub-genre the writer will also include WWII genre. Tora is a Japanese’s word that means tiger. This movie set had an ideal World War II backdrop. The movie gave three significant points in the film. Which was entertaining, informing and it was educational there few movies that have all this characteristic.