November 26, 1941 The Hawaii Strategic Task Force engages in a sortie from Hitokappu Bay. A Japanese Navy carrier goes to the North Pacific Ocean towards Pearl Harbor. Photographed on November 18, 1941. (Offered by Mainichi Newspaper) On Wednesday November 26, 1941, The Hawaii Strategic Task Force engages in a sortie from Hitokappu Bay, Etorofu. The military prepares for war, while tensions in Japan-US relations fail to ease. A navy unit prepares to attack Pearl Harbor on this day. However, they were told to turn back in case the possibility of a breakthrough emerged at the final stage. Document 1: Naval Order No. 1. November 5, 1941 Document 2: Naval Plan No. 1. November 5, 1941 Document 3: B02032960000 Overview of the Process on Decisions of Important National Policy, (from the Second Konoe Cabinet to the outbreak of the war) 2. (Images 15 and 16) “Order to Terminate Military Action in the Event of an Agreement Arising from U.S.–Japan Negotiations before December 8, 1941” On November 5th 1941 in the Naval Department of the Imperial Headquarters, the order was given to the combined fleet to begin preparations for operations against the US, British, and Dutch forces. At the same time, instructions were given to move the pre-operations preparation site for the combined fleet, and orders were given on November 21st to move standby operations to the open sea. In this way, units under the command of Vice-Admiral Chuichi Nagumo mobilized in secret from the Seto Inland Sea, assembled in Hitokappu bay on Etorofu, in the Kurile Islands, by November 22nd, and began a sortie against Hawaii in the early morning of the November 26th. Document 1 consists of the naval preparations ordered by “Naval Order No. 1.” In Document 2, the concrete strategy based upon the naval orders for “Naval Order No. 1”, located in a separate volume, show instructions for the surprise attack on Hawaii and the assault on the US naval fleet. Document 3 consists of “Naval Order No. 5” and “Naval Plan No. 5”, given after referencing the diplomacy materials made later by the Foreign Ministry. These orders, from the Chief of the Naval General Staff who is based in the capital and given orally to the Commander-in-Chief of the combined fleet, Isoroku Yamamoto on December 2nd, instructed that if a negotiated agreement with the United States was reached before December 8th when the hostilities were designated to begin, all operations were to be cancelled and the fleet withdrawn.