you must be joking. The US alone could have beaten the Japanese once its industrial base had been fired up. Even at the very beginning of the war with Japan in Dec 1941 the US economy was already 4 times bigger, that's before a shot had been fired. The moment Japan attacked six US bases on the same day (inc. Pearl Harbour) the Japanese hierarchy knew they were doomed. Yamamoto is alleged to have said 'we have woken a sleeping tiger' (though that was never documented anywhere). Yamamoto had studied at Harvard he knew well the massive potential of US industrial might to roll Japan. Japan's biggest problem was supplying its forces every time they gained ground - it was never sustainable. Jap troops were eventually bereft of everything an army needs so the end was inevitable. So if Japan knew before it started the war with the US that defeat was the most likely outcome why did they proceed with their provocation?
