I disagree that it was an enormous tactical success for Japan. They missed the ships that they were specifically trying to hit, the carriers. In reality it was a tactical failure, a strategic failure, a moral and political failure.
Admiral Yamamoto told the Emperor they would have to march into Washington D.C. to defeat America, but no one believed him.
Agree with you.
I don't think the Japanese ever seriously considered defeating the U.S. What they were trying to accomplish was to buy some time to "liberate" (in their minds) the territories that the U.S. and Britain held in what they considered their sphere of influence (the South Pacific).
Of course, Japan wanted those territories for themselves as they had great need of the raw materials that they contained. They felt it improper that outsiders (U.S. and Britain mainly) had dibs on them.
The Japanese felt that by pre-emptively destroying the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor, that it would set us back a few years, allowing them to consolidate their newly conquered territories without our interference. They also bargained on the fact that we'd be pre-occupied with what was going on in Europe over the next few years and would not have the appetite to fight them as well.
It's also important to note that Hawaii was not a U.S. state back then, but a territory. The Japanese saw us as encroaching on their turf.