The plan to bomb pearl harbor was made up of a serious of events.Japanese spies were planted on the island of Hawaii to take photos and notes on the layout of the island. They entered the country calling themselves "tourists". Other then just taking pictures of the island, the spies also recorded what weapons and targets they should destroy. On November 3, 1941, the Chief Japanese Naval Staff gave the approval to go ahead with the plan to bomb Pearl Harbor. The Japanese knew that the Americans would find out about the secret attack, so they went to Washington to distract the government away from the sneak attack by using diplomatic negotiations. The Aircraft Carriers left port on November 26, 1941, bypassing normal shipping routes and remaining in radio silence until the attack to stay hidden. The six main Aircraft Carriers were the Akagi, Kaga, Soryu, Hiryu, Shokaku, and Zuikaku. The Militarist Prime Minister of Japan released a threat to the American and British governments saying that they will purge East Asia of American and British power 7 days before the attack.
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The Americans later found out after breaking the Japanese diplomatic code they were able to read coded messages from Tokyo to Japanese embassy's in Washington the American government read that the Japanese warned its diplomats the unspecified events would happen after November of 1941. Even though Americans saw this as a fore-shadowing of aggressive moves by the Japanese, U.S. Naval Officers did not think that the Japanese would be able to attack Pearl Harbor. The Americans did take precautions in Hawaii in case of an attack or sabotage. However, they were not taken seriously. The words "Climb Mount Niitaka" were the final confirmation words to declare war on the Americans and bomb Pearl Harbor.
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