Although the Imperial Japanese government had made some effort
to prepare their population for war via anti-U.S. propaganda, it
appears most Japanese were surprised, apprehensive, and dismayed by
the news they were now at war with the U.S., a country many
Japanese admired. Nevertheless, the people at home and overseas
thereafter generally accepted their government’s account of the
attack and supported the war effort until their nation’s surrender
in 1945.
