But it was, above all, the sense of encirclement and humiliation that united the deeply divided Japanese government. Feeling defeated by a series of failed approaches to the US, including an overture to hold direct talks with Roosevelt, Prime Minister Fumimaro Konoe resigned on October 16, making hard-line Army Minister Hideki Tōjō his successor.
第二次世界大战的太平洋战争最后打响有多种不同的原因。但是首先是因为被包围感和屈辱感使得原本意见分歧严重的日本政府团结起来。日本首相近卫文磨试图接近美国包括与美国总统罗斯福举行直接会谈，但是都无功而返。他深感受挫而在10月16日辞职，把首相位子让给了强硬派陆军大臣东条英机。