The Japanese fought tenaciously, brutally and with great ardor in World War II, but the officers seemed indifferent to causalities, and they got lots of them as a result.
The guys I saw (infantry company) had very little to no grasp of the basics. Their line guys were about on par with what I saw/experienced in basic training. Even their Platoon Leader thought it was a good idea to do a recon completely by himself with his rifle slung on his shoulder.
All I could think was, “This isn’t your grandfather’s Japanese Army!”