Question

Describe the pearl harbor from the Japanese perspective?

Answer 1

Japan isn't a country rich in natural resources like oil, so as their industry expanded, their need for the materials to feed it grew, too. Unfortunately, that (and the heavily militarism influencing their government at the time) led them to a military solution in China (the invasion of Manchuria) and to strike French Indochina.

The US saw these as belligerent actions and ultimately cut off supplies of machine parts and fuel to Japan. They later cut off oil, which Japan was dependent on, after they continued to expand in Indochina. The US wanted them to withdraw from China (which would have been humiliating). The other option was to continue waging war there and expand their operations to seize additional resources in Southeast Asia. You can guess which option they secretly chose.

To the Japanese, they needed these resources if their country were to continue to prosper and US action threatened that. They were also planning to expand further into Southeast Asia and knew that the US might act to stop them. The answer, then, was to try and knock the US out early by demolishing the fleet at Pearl Harbor, especially their carrier force.