How could one argue that the us drove japan to attack pearl harbor? how was the conflict in the pacific different than that one in europe?

There are two reasons for this. One is that because of the way Manchuria was invaded, the United States put an embargo on oil trade and Japan understood that they wouldn't be able to fight at all without the oil so they needed to end the threat of the US. The US also controlled Philippines which were found in the Pacific and Japan needed that territory. It could be argued that because of US imperialism regarding the Philippines that Japan felt threatened. 

It was different insofar that it was mostly between Japan and the US, other countries did not participate that much. Also, most of the fighting was done on the seas and in the air. There was almost no fighting in Continental China. They just kept fighting in the waters and jumped from island to island. In addition, beating Japan did not require an invasion since a blockade or bombing would be successful, while Germany had to be invaded all the way to Berlin.