Stories of the Pearl Harbor surprise air raid on Dec. 7, 1941, have been told by many historians, but startling evidence has been unearthed revealing a hidden and misrepresented part of Japanese diplomacy as well as skillful manipulation by the military oligarchy that culminated in the attacks in Hawaii and the Kota Bharu beachhead in then Malaya.

The evidence is of a delayed cable transmission of the Japanese government's final memorandum to the U.S. government that fateful day, found in the U.S. Public Documents Record Office, and the publication in September of Emperor Hirohito's audience records of November and December 1941.

During and after the Pacific War, the Japanese military kept secret most of its manipulations in order to glorify its military success as any country does and the Far Eastern Military Tribunal (FEMT), though far from a fair trial, let Japan's wartime leaders evade revelations of the military's conduct that might endanger their life. Subordinate officers did their best to protect their leaders and their honor.