In fact, Japan started down the path of belligerence towards the US in the 1920s after the US passed immigration laws curtailing a good percentage of immigration from Japan. The Japanese took it as an insult.
No doubt they did, when, at that time, Japan’s national religion was devoted to covering the 8 corners of the world under the Emperor’s rule. Which behavior we now see in China, minus the Emperor, via their expansion into Malaysia and the African continent, “turtles” and bootlegging of everything from dress patterns to satellite tec. Lest we forget China was due to invade the US in 2016.