How did feigned retreat fit Japanese naval doctrine?

How did feigned retreat fit Japanese naval thinking?

It suited the plan to draw an enemy forward into attrition, which made Yamamoto's challenge to that logic difficult to accept.

Feigned retreat fit Japan's attritional naval doctrine by drawing an enemy forward while exposing it to repeated attacks. That concept had become deeply embedded in Japanese military culture and fleet planning. Replacing it with a direct opening blow therefore meant changing more than the details of one operation. Yamamoto's threatened resignation is interpreted as evidence that Pearl Harbor challenged a core doctrine whose failure senior officers were reluctant to admit.