Who was the Japanese leader during Pearl Harbor?

Who was the Japanese leader during Pearl Harbor? It was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the commander-in-chief of the Combined Fleet during World War II.

Yamamoto became an Admiral a little over a year before the attack on Pearl Harbor – November 15, 1940. He’s best known for leading the attack on Pearl Harbor. As the key strategist, he had serious reservations about a war with the United States. And, as Japan would come to know, these reservations were well founded.

Historians consider the Pearl Harbor attack to be tactically brilliant, but strategically foolish. Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto can shoulder some of the credit and the blame.

Yamamoto believed that a successful attack at Pearl Harbor would damage the morale of the American people. Of course, the attack had the opposite effect and rallied Americans together like never before. Instead of preventing a long-term war, Japan forced America to retaliate.

Tactically, Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto believed that naval air power was superior over battleships. Many of his Japanese colleagues did not agree, but Pearl Harbor proved them wrong as the Japanese aircraft and the surprise attack were responsible for the damage done in Oahu.

While many Japanese considered the attack successful, Yamamoto did not. Yamamoto’s goal was to annihilate the US Pacific Fleet – including the U.S. air craft carriers. But, none of the carriers were in port and the Yamamoto’s plan wasn’t fully realized.

A year and a half later, U.S. Navy cryptanalysts intercepted a message containing Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto’s flight plans. President Roosevelt gave the order, and and P-38s from Guadalcanal shot down Yamamoto’s plane. He died on April 18, 1943, serving a major blow to the moral of the Japanese Imperial Navy.