WW II was Three wars all fought at the same time.
1. Germany and the west. 1939—41
2. Germany and Soviet Union—1941-1845
3. US and Japan 1941—1945
67 million died—3% of the worlds population—the most killed by starvation and disease. Russia and China lost the most in people. The world lost the best and the bightest in this grim and terrible conflict. It took decades to rebuild. Let us pray that we never face a war of this size and savagery.
The Japanese Navy was extremely well trained. I remember Saburo Sakai pointed out just how strict they were with pilot training. Only around 2 percent made it through. He said later they were badly mistaken and they wished they had a lot of those they washed out back. In other words many of those who were washed out were still excellent pilots etc.
They were also very well trained in night fighting. The amazing thing is that by the battle of Midway we had caught up with them. That was only 5 months after Pearl Harbor.