Martin Cruz Smith's novel December 6 (2002) is set in Tokyo. The novel centers on Harry Niles, son of American missionaries in Japan, educated in Japanese schools, but a wild boy who grows up to be quick-witted and cynical. He is the owner of a gin joint, called the Happy Paris, to which everyone seems to flock. The Happy Paris has a beautiful Japanese woman who sits next to the jukebox, moving sinuously to Duke Ellington or Rodgers and Hart tunes. She is Harry's mistress, and she has made it clear that she would rather kill him than let him go. But Harry sees just around the corner the inevitable war that will render him an enemy alien.

Harry is approached by some Japanese school friends looking for information. Always two steps ahead, Harry misleads them into believing that there are oil storage tanks hidden in the hills beyond Pearl Harbor. On December 6, Harry sees General Tojo, Japanese prime minister, in a local park, dressed in tweeds, being photographed for the local newspapers. He guesses that the attack on Pearl Harbor will begin tomorrow. He goes to a friend at the American embassy to give a warning about the imminent attack, but no one believes him. The following day, the Japanese realize that they passed up the oil storage tanks in full view at Pearl Harbor in order to go on a wild goose chase. Harry's trick, and the fact that the American aircraft carriers were away from Pearl Harbor, means that the attack failed. Instead of killing Harry, his Japanese friends commit ritual suicide. As the novel comes to a close, Harry, always the gambler, calculates the odds of his surviving in wartime Japan and thinks he stands a chance.

December 6 does not take a stand on the Pearl Harbor controversy, although it suggests that one should never discount the role of bureaucracy and incompetence in major historical events.

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