Japanese Planning for Pearl Harbor - Episode 515

88 min • 12 augusti 2025

This week Seth Paridon and Jon Parshall dig into the Japanese planning for the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941. The guys get into the brain behind the idea, that being Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku, and his first ideas for the plan in April 1940. The guys discuss the growth of the plan from idea to reality through 1940, into 1941, including dives into the personalities involved including: Kuroshima, Kusaka, Genda, and Fuchida. Jon then gives us a masters class on the formation of Kido Butai as a striking force and the formation of the Japanese 1st Air Fleet. Make sure and check out this all-important episode on how the plan went from an idea to a full-fledged operation and its overall impact on Japan's grand strategy for war in the Pacific in 1941.