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He’s wrong. First, the Japanese Army wanted to invade the USSR, even in 1941. It was the NAVY that insisted the war go south, for the oil.

Second, Japan achieved its objectives by early 1942. It was only when the U.S refused to talk, and after the Doolittle raid that Japanese naval planning [Coral Sea, Midway/Alaska] led to the defeats that paved the way for Japan’s extinction.

Were there mistakes? You betcha. No Japanese submachine guns [in a war largely fought in jungles], no equivalent to the MG 42, no armor worth the name. Too many ammo types, even in a common caliber. Too much Bushido BS [pilots refuse parachutes, detroyers refuse convoy duty for merchantmen].

But the major mistake was going into war at all. But that might not be all their fault. FDR couldn’t get Hitler to bite, so he used the Japanese occupation of Indochina to force a war.

Second, Japan achieved its objectives by early 1942. It was only when the U.S refused to talk, and after the Doolittle raid that Japanese naval planning [Coral Sea, Midway/Alaska] led to the defeats that paved the way for Japan’s extinction.

Japan evidently thought that the US would 'Do a Deal' the way the Russians did after Tsushima Straits. They didn't really have a "Plan B" unless you consider Japanese racial superiority and Bushido a plan.

First, the Japanese Army wanted to invade the USSR, even in 1941.

It's interesting to speculate how the war might have turned out differently if they had.

Had the Japanese attacked Siberia instead of Pearl Harbor, Stalin would have been unable to shift the Siberian troops that stopped the German 20 miles outside Moscow in early winter of 1941. With the USSR fighting on two fronts, it's arguable they would have been defeated.

Had the USA gotten into the war after the collapse of the USSR, our task would have been infinitely more difficult. The invasion of Europe at D-Day would probably have been impossible. Of course, the Bomb would still have won us the war in 1945.

However, your claim that the Army wanted to invade Russia is at least debatable. They had fought a full-scale battle against the Red Army in 1939 at Nomonhan and got their head handed to them. They were very poorly equipped to deal with a fully mechanized force. They also were faced with an army led by Zhukov, the best Russian general of the time.

http://www.siberianlight.net/khalkhin-gol-battle-nomonhan/