Japan possessed unusually advanced amphibious capabilities in 1940-41. In this counterfactual, Japanese planners failed to align those capabilities with the strategic purpose of Pearl Harbor. Landing two or three divisions in Hawaii under carrier cover could have displaced the American operating base to the mainland and forced the United States to retake the islands before advancing west. The related idea of obstructing the Panama Canal exposes the gap between an operationally dramatic raid and a coherent plan for limiting American power.
Notable Point · 31:53-32:59
The strategic cost of not invading Hawaii
Occupying Hawaii could have forced the United States to retake the islands before advancing farther across the Pacific.