An affinity for taking the dominant role by limited wars in asia and being prodded with a sharp pointed stick to do so are vastly different instances.
As the treachery of Harry Dexter White was not more than a suspicion, archival records that prove it and outline it give us an entirely different concept of the outbreak of war or the inevitability of the war in the Pacific.
Japan may have been prodded by people with their own agenda, but their massive offensive from December 1941-May 1942 would not have occurred unless they really wanted to accomplish their strategic goals and long term ambitions. It is extremely difficult for Westerners to comprehend the humiliation that Asians felt by European and American control in their countries.