Could the Japanese have invaded the US?

[Mike Abberton]

Any invasion or even raid attempt on the US mainland would have been at the expense of just about all other action. And I don't think the Japanese had the supplies, particularly oil, to make the attack possible. At the start of the war, they were stockpiled with oil reserves to a degree, but they desperately needed to capture a source of oil to keep going, hence the invasion of the DEI, et al.

Going to the US would have consumed oil, and a lot of it, not produced oil. Even any oil production located on the West Coast, assuming they could capture it intact and get it on-line quickly, would not have produced a net positive oil flow to the Home Islands.

There just wasn't really anything on the West Coast they needed. And certainly nothing to justify abandoning all their other objectives.