To obfuscate the waging of war on several fronts simultaneously may seem an unlikely and incredible ambition. However, as more and more information surrounding Japan's attacks on Pearl Harbor and elsewhere in the Pacific on Dec. 7, 1941, comes to light, it becomes ever more clear that its military rulers in Tokyo aimed to do just that.
In order to make its surprise attacks a success, Tokyo originally instructed the Japanese embassy in Washington to pretend to continue negotiations with the U.S. government till the last day.
The Japanese military's original desire was to then deliver its so-called Final Memorandum the day after the attack to minimize its losses, according to a Dec.6, 1941 entry in the "Confidential War Diary" of the Imperial Headquarters Army General Staff War Direction Division, which was finally published in 1998.