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From what I have read the declaration of war took longer to decode at the Japanese Embassy then was expected, and thus was delivered late.

• Someone 11y ago
  Yes, that's the next sentence on that Wikipedia page. However, it also says the message wasn't that clearly a declaration of war, and adds: "In 1999, however, Takeo Iguchi, a professor of law and international relations at International Christian University in Tokyo, discovered documents that pointed to a vigorous debate inside the government over how, and indeed whether, to notify Washington of Japan's intention to break off negotiations and start a war, including a December 7 entry in the war diary saying, "our deceptive diplomacy is steadily proceeding toward success." Of this, Iguchi said, "The diary shows that the army and navy did not want to give any proper declaration of war, or indeed prior notice even of the termination of negotiations ... and they clearly prevailed." I don't see how one can conclude that "clearly prevailed". The message apparently wasn't 100% clear, but there was a message. Wikipedia also says the U.S. had broken the code used to encrypt that message. That makes it unlikely that there was a second super-secret message "make sure the next message arrives late" (Of course, this is all playing historian from a single Wikipedia page, the occasional TV program, and a tiny bit of other reading over the years)
  • rdsnsca 11y ago
    The problem with Japanese is that it possible to talk all day and say nothing of substance, its the perfect language for bullshitters (and politicians). Even a simple sentences can be translated to have may different meanings. This came up again when the Americans had trouble translating the statements the Japanese made after the Hiroshima bombing.