Hey, first-time poster here.  As Japan my standard opener is generally to kill the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, but I was trying to think of a practical way that it can be countered A1.  It seems to me that the only possible way (with OOB rules) would be to successfully research long-range aircraft. 
Furthermore, here are the assumptions that I am working with:

• Japan hits Pearl with 1 sub (assume Britain didn’t kill it in the Solomons B1),1 des, 1 battleship, 1 AC, 2 fighters, and a bomber.
• All US naval forces are killed J1 in Hawaii
• Any hits Japan takes in Pearl II go from the BB, then the sub, then the des., etc

Past that, two scenarios seem possible.

Scenario 1: The fighter in China survives
The most I can find for the US to bring against Japan is 4 fighters, 1 bomber, 1 BB, and 1 tranny.

Scenario 2: The fighter in China is killed
This is much tighter and failure is a very real possibility if Japan rolls well.  Without the Chinese fighter it would be either gutsy or stupid to try this, depending on how Japan did the turn before

Does anyone think that there would be a circumstance where such a move could be practical for the US?  Perhaps if Japan took Pearl with less than what I assumed was sent, or if the US felt inclined to wipe out Japan’s eastern Pacific fleet for larger strategic reasons?