<P> Propaganda made repeated use of the attack, because its effect was enormous and impossible to counter . "Remember Pearl Harbor!" became the watchwords of the war . </P> <P> The American government understated the damage inflicted, in hopes of preventing the Japanese from learning it, but the Japanese had, through surveillance, a good estimate . </P> <P> On December 8, 1941, Japan declared war on the United States and the British Empire . The Japanese document discussed world peace and the disruptive actions of the United States and the United Kingdom . The document claimed all avenues for averting war had been exhausted by the Government of Japan . </P> <P> 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 of them 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 . </P>

Who declared war on us after pearl harbor