Yes, during that war, the established plan was -- to defend every single inch of territory conquered. The opinion was that American would fight an attrition war, and would sue for peace. They (the Americans) learned perfectly well after the Battle of Guadalcanal where significant amount of American soldiers were lost. They realized the tenacity of Imperial soldiers. This is the reason why they, under the leadership of Nimitz and MacArthur, adopted the Leap Frog Tactic. They purposely bypassed Rabaul, which was garissoned with over 50,000 soldiers.
The Nihon Kaigun [The Imperial Navy of the Empire of Japan] , also, expected more clandestine classical naval warefare, similar to the ones Japan shined in during the 1905 Russo-Japanese War, when the Imperial Navy obliterated the Russian Baltic Fleet at the Battle of Tsushima Straits. Given, the Imperial Navy did contribute to the modern concept of carrier warefare, one thing that we lacked was the development of large submarine fleet. To this, our merchant marine and battle groups suffered.
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kalu_miah ,
The Rising Sun Flag is in usage by the Japanese Self Defense Force because it represents continuity with Japanese modernity seen after the Great Meiji Restoration and the subsequent rise of Japan and a pre-eminent power in Asia.
I can understand where some people might take offense to this, given the Pacific War, it remains in usage for the national interest, namely, the military continuity of Japan. One could say that there is a longing within the JSDF ranks , and it is significant, to formally rename JSDF to The Japanese Armed Forces, or , Imperial Japanese Armed Forces.