I’m talking about unprovoked, preemptive invasion with the purpose of changing a sovereign nation’s government. THAT was what Japan was trying to do to us.
What we did with Japan was a legitimate response to Japan’s direct attack against our country, like the Taliban on 9-11. We had every right to go in and unconditionally defeat Japan and we had every right to cause them to reform a government that would not be a threat to us again.
Alright, I’ll take it somewhat further. If someone attacks the US “without provocation”, we then can install whatever government in that country we would find acceptable?