“...often Japanese naval officers attended western university and gained a different perspective of potential adversaries...”
When Harvard-trained Adm. Yamamoto learned that the Pearl Harbor raid was seen as a sneak attack, he observed,
“I fear all we have done is to awaken a sleeping giant, and fill him with a terrible resolve.”
Earlier he had told the Emperor, “I can raise havoc with the Americans for a year. After that, I can promise nothing.”
I remember reading that not all of the military leadership agreed with the plan to attack Pearl Harbor.