BeschreibungImperial Rescript Declaring the Pacific War.jpg	English: Imperial Rescript Declaring the Pacific War 1941 Deutsch: Kaiserliche Kriegserklärung Japans an die Vereinigten Staaten (Rescript)
Datum	8. Dezember 1941
Quelle	Reports of General MacArthur, JAPANESE OPERATIONS IN THE SOUTHWEST PACIFIC AREA, VOLUME II - PART I, U.S. Army Center of Military History. The uploader turned over the image in [1] to restore to the right image.
Urheber	U.S. Army Center of Military History
Genehmigung (Weiternutzung dieser Datei)	Dieses Bild ist gemeinfrei, weil es ein rein mechanischer Scan oder eine rein mechanische Fotografie eines gemeinfreien Originals ist, oder – wenn anders belegbar – es einem solchen Scan oder einer solchen Fotografie so ähnlich ist, dass das Entstehen eines Copyright-Schutzes nicht erwartet werden kann. Das Original selbst ist gemeinfrei aus folgendem Grund: Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse This work is in the public domain in Japan according to Article 13 of the Copyright Act of Japan, which states that the following shall not form the subject matter of the rights provided for in this Chapter: (i) the Constitution and other laws and regulations; (ii) notifications, instructions, circular notices and the like issued by organs of the State or local public entities, independent administrative organs ("independent administrative organs" means those mentioned in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Law for General Rules for Independent Administrative Organs (Law No.103, of 1999); the same shall apply hereinafter) or local independent administrative organs ("local independent administrative organs" means those mentioned in Article 2, paragraph (1) of the Law for Local Independent Administrative Organs (Law No.118, of 2003); the same shall apply hereinafter); (iii) judgments, decisions, orders and decrees of law courts, as well as rulings and decisions made by administrative organs in proceedings similar to judicial ones; (iv) translations and compilations, of those materials mentioned in the preceding three items, made by organs of the State or local public entities, independent administrative organs or local independent administrative organs. English ∙ español ∙ 日本語 ∙ 한국어 ∙ português ∙ 中文（简体） ∙ 中文（繁體） ∙ Dieser Hinweis wurde für Fälle entworfen, in denen erklärt werden muss, dass jegliche Verbesserungen (zum Beispiel von Helligkeit, Kontrast, Farbabgleich, Schärfe) für sich selbst nicht ausreichend sind, um ein neues Copyright zu schaffen. Er kann verwendet werden, wenn unbekannt ist, ob Verbesserungen vorgenommen wurden, oder wenn Verbesserungen erkennbar, aber nicht ausreichend sind. Für bekanntermaßen unbearbeitete Scans kannst Du statt dessen den passenden {{PD-old}}-Hinweis verwenden. Anwendungshinweise findest Du unter Commons:Wann der PD-Scan-Lizenzbaustein verwendet werden soll. Beachte: Dieser Hinweis gilt nur für Scans und Fotos. Für Fotos von gemeinfreien Originalen aus der Ferne kann {{PD-Art}} anwendbar sein. See Commons:When to use the PD-Art tag.

Imperial Rescript

We, by grace of heaven, Emperor of Japan, seated on the Throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal, enjoin upon ye, Our loyal and brave subjects:

We hereby declare war on the United States of America and the British Empire. The men and officers of Our army and navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war, Our public servants of various departments shall perform faithfully and diligently their appointed tasks, and all other subjects of Ours shall pursue their respective duties; the entire nation with a united will shall mobilize their total strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of our war aims.

To insure the stability of East Asia and to contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by Our Great Illustrious Imperial Grandsire and our Great Imperial Sire succeeding Him, and which We lay constantly to heart. To cultivate friendship among nation and to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations has always been the guiding principle of Our Empire's foreign policy. It has been truly unavoidable and far from Our wishes that Our Empire has now been brought to cross swords with America and Britain. More than four years have passed since China, failing to comprehend the true intentions of Our Empire, and recklessly courting trouble, disturbed the peace of East Asia and compelled Our Empire to take up arms. Although there has been re-established the National Government of China, with which Japan has effected neighbourly intercourse and cooperation, the regime which has survived at Chungking, relying upon American and British protection, still continues its fratricidal opposition. Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambition to dominate the Orient, both America and Britain, giving support to the Chungking regime in the name of peace, have aggravated the disturbances in East Asia. Moreover, these two Powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of Our Empire to challenge us. They have obstructed by every means our peaceful commerce, and finally resorted to a direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of Our Empire. Patiently have We waited and long have We endured, in the hope that Our Government might retrieve the situation in peace. But our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement; and in the meantime, they have intensified economic and military pressure to compel thereby Our Empire to submission. This trend of affairs would, if left unchecked, not only nullify Our Empire's efforts of many years for the sake of the stabilization of East Asia, but also endanger the very existence of Our nation. The situation being such as it is, Our Empire for its existence and self-defense has no other recourse but to appeal to arms and to crush every obstacle in its path.

The hallowed spirits of Our Imperial Ancestors guarding Us from above, We rely upon the loyalty and courage of Our Subjects in Our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by Our Forefathers will be carried forward, and that the sources of evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Asia, preserving thereby the glory of Our Empire.

The 8th day of the 12th month of the 16th year of Showa.