As far as I know Japanese history from what I read on AH.com, Japan's main goal was to conquer China. For this they needed some ressources, like for example oil, but the US government wasn't willing to provide Japan with oil, so the Japanese decided to conquer British and Dutch South East Asia to get the fuel. But since the Philippines were threatening the Japanese supply routes to Indonesia, Japan decided to get rid of the US to be able to use the oil to conquer China.
That's seems logical, but is it right?
Now my main question: I think that statistics about economic and industrial power of the WAllies were available back then, especially for the US which were still at peace in 1941. Every Japanese strategists should have recognized that the US have a superb industrial potential and can easily outproduce Japan, particularly if America is allied to Britain, the Commonwealth States and the Soviet Union.
And the Japanese government certainly had alternatives: They could have admit that they'll never have the power necessary to conquer whole China, and negotiate a moderate, but still advantageous peace with Chiang Kai-shek, who'll surely be glad to get rid of the Japanese occupation so he can continue to fight the communists. If the Japanese stops the war in China, they don't need any ressources and further conquests in the first place and can concentrate on a peaceful development.
So, if the Japanese government wasn't forced to attack the US, and if they knew that they couldn't win the war against both China and the WAllies, why did they declare war on the United States? Were they just as as insane as Hitler, or had they other motives?