World War II began for the United States with the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Nearly four years later, the Japanese would surrender. Ever since that surrender, there has been speculation about why Japan had not apologized for the attack on Pearl Harbor. The issue was raised from time to time, and recently Japan offered what Japanese officials presumably believed was an apology for World War II. many in America see this apology as only half-hearted and as insufficient for the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor and then for the subsequent war in which thousands of American lives were lost. The nature of this "apology" and its apparent meaning on both sides of the Pacific show how differently the whole issue is viewed by the two countries involved along with how differently these cultures view such concepts as "apology."
The differences between the two countries and the importance of the apology sought by the United States begin with the beginning of the war. The attack on Pearl Harbor occurred on December 7, 1941. It was a surprise attack on the U.S. fleet moored in the harbor by the Japanese air force. The attack on Pearl harbor should be seen first as a continuation of earlier Japanese policies. Japan had launched surprise attacks before, in the Sino-Japanese War of 1894-1895 and the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-1905. At the time, the Western press saw these acts as well-executed strikes and as brilliant tactical maneuvers. American military authorities in the 1920s and 1930s carried out maneuvers based on simulated Japanese attacks on Pearl Harbor that would prove to be surprisingly like the real one. In the decades prior to Pearl Harbor, relations between Japan and the United States had been strained. By the end of the 1930s, the primary issue between them concerned Japan's war with China, a war Japan needed desperately to win. Chiang Kai-Shek, however, withdrew even more deeply into the interior and tied t...