It's not like the country would have meekly gone home to lick its wounds, had the nasty Americans only left them alone. Remember the war started because of Japa

It's not like the country would have meekly gone home to lick its wounds, had the nasty Americans only left them alone. Remember the war started because of Japan's imperialistic dreams in SE Asia. You might have visions of the U.S. systematically destroying any Japanese war power that ventured out for conquest while leaving the home islands untouched, but that kind of shepherding requires a degree of total military superiority we did not posses at the time.