The bulk of the journey that the Japanese fleet took was off of normal shipping lanes so as large as the Pacific is, I’m not really surprised that the fleet covered that distance without being detected. However, once they began getting close to Pearl, the fact that the reconnaissance, that they were charged to do, was so poorly conducted that it failed to detect the fleet, and failed to have the proper channels in place when they detected the aircraft coming in is almost inexcusable.
The Japanese were very effective with their deception methods that they employed in covering their tracks leading up to the attack. Even their assemble area played a role in this. Just as the Japanese were asking for reports on the locations of American ships, we were trying to do the same thing in return though we had next to nothing as far a men on the ground in Japan so the task was far more difficult. Assembling at Hitokappu Bay eliminated even the slightest possibility of a HUMINT discovery because of its severe remoteness.
A good article on the Japanese radio deception was written by R.J. Hanyok called “Blinded by the Rising Sun: Japanese Radio Deception Before Pearl Harbor”. I’m not sure if you can get it online, but if you want it, Freepmail me your address and I’ll send it your way.
interesting. thanks
one other detail in the book, among many really clever Japanese preparations, was having a couple merchantmen ships run the route in reverse from Hawaii to Japan days before, scouting. they reported not a single ship along the planned route.
japanese also brought in sailors to replace the crews on the raid, and had them take shore leave so locals didnt notice any difference in number of blue uniforms walking around. really detailed planning.