Was Mainland America or Alaska Ever Attacked by Japan During WW2?

Question

Was Mainland America or Alaska Ever Attacked by Japan During WW2?

Answer 1

Yes.  The Japanese launched these explosive hydrogen balloons that landed in California and Alaska among other places.

Japanese submarines also shot at coastal California a few times.

Pearl Harbor, HI is not mainland US or Alaska.

Here I found something real, not just my hazy memory:

West Coast residents had been swept by a post-Pearl Harbor hysteria and feared that an invasion by the Japanese was imminent.  On February 28, 1942, the Japanese submarine I-17 bombarded an oil pumping station near Santa Barbara, California.  On June 3, 1942, carrier-based Japanese aircraft attacked Dutch Harbor, Alaska, followed by the invasion of the islands of Attu and Kiska in the Aleutian Islands on June 7, 1942.  The I-26, patrolling north along the coast of Vancouver Island in British Columbia, shelled the lighthouse and radio-direction-finding (RDF) installation at Estevan Point near Tofino on June 20, 1942.  The following day, the I-25 shelled the U.S. Army base at Fort Stevens at the mouth of the Columbia River, just five miles west of Astoria, Oregon, and on September 9, 1942, fire-bombed the Siskiyou National Forest near Brookings, Oregon, using their “Glen” aircraft.

Answer 2

Yes both directly and indirectly.

The most notable attack would be the Japanese invasion of the Alleution Islands of Alaska.  Japan used this invasion hoping to draw American Naval forces north and weaken the forces that would help defend Midway Island.  However the US code breakers knew Japan was going to attack Midway and when and knew the invasion force was a diversion.  The USA did not take the bait and in one of the most one sided battles in Naval History was able to sink 4 Japanese Carriers at Midway.  As for the invasion of the Islands the USA would eventually remove the Japanese forces from there.

During the course of the war the Japanese launched several thousand balloons filled with incendary materials towards the US west coast.  The hopes would be that these balloons would start raging forest fires and destroy much of the west coast.  The plan only partially worked.  While several balloons never made it across the Pacific the ones that did were kept secret by the US government so the public would not be paniced.  Japan eventually cancelled this thinking that the plan had failed.

Edit: Hey krennao before giving a smart *** answer you should really learn to read the question.  He asked Mainland US and Alaska, Pearl Harbor is on Oahu in Hawaii which part of neither.

Answer 3

Yes on both. The Japanese landed on the far west island of Alaska (Attu maybe). More symbolic then anything. Also, they used ballons to drop explosives on the mainland but the US kept it quiet enough where Japan thought they didn't make it to the US.  

Answer 4

Pearl Harbor. Guess where that is at?

Answer 5

http://www.army.mil/CMH/brochures/aleut/...  

Answer 6

Not the main body of Alaska, although the Japanese landed in the tip of the Aleutian Islands and dug in there for awhile. I seem to remember they occupied Dutch Harbor. May be wrong. At least it gives you the assurance that if you Google some key words, you'll come up with the details.