Storm Clouds over the Pacific 1931-1941 by Peter Harmsen is the first volume of a planned trilogy on the war in the East.
Harmsen narrates that Commodore Perry and his officers observed in 1854 that the Japanese they negotiated with has a habit of telling lies with a straight face. There is a mixture of courtesy and hypocrisy. (p 10).
Another trait is to launch an attack prior to a declaration of war. 1n 1894, Japanese cruisers sank a Chinese troop transport without a declaration of war. (p 11]
In 1904, ten Japanese destroyers attacked the Russian base at Port Arthur and declared war the next day. (p 14).
Similarly, the Pearl Harbour attack of 1941 was also launched prior to a declaration of war while its diplomats were negotiating a peace deal in Washington and sipping cocktails with the American negotiators. (p 135).