Basic Training

• Japanese Imperial Army training was generally conducted in four-month segments. The first four months was dedicated to basic training where physical endurance was built and recruits were groomed psychologically for the Japanese Army. The first month was the equivalent of basic training. The second and subsequent months, the recruits were told they would be treated even more harshly than during the first month.
  
  

Physical Endurance

• Imperial Japanese Army training was often carried out in very hot sun or during very cold winters. At the same time, the training was often carried out in very difficult terrain to help soldiers become accustomed to the rigors of battle. Often, discipline was instilled through physical beatings to instill a sense of self-discipline in recruits. The beatings instilled a deeply ingrained view of, as it is called in the west, fatalism. This view is contained in the expression "shikata ga nai," which translates into "it can't be helped." These harsh training techniques helped Japanese Imperial soldiers deal with adversity with a stoicism absent in many of their adversaries.
  
  

Psychological Training

• Psychological training began with the beatings and adverse conditions of physical training. However, the psychological training of Imperial Army personnel stemmed from earlier psychological training of the Samurai class. It included a view that revered the emperor above a soldier's own life and a sense that to die for the Emperor was more desirable than to live as a prisoner.
  
  

Squad Training

• After the initial four months of basic, physical, and psychological training, Imperial Japanese soldiers underwent a four-month training period that emphasized small unit training. Although some new recruits were sent to this training, second-year soldiers more commonly participated. Competition among the different training units was fierce.
  
  

Battalion Training

• The third period of four-month training was dedicated to battalion and higher level training. This training period usually preceded grand maneuvers and was often combined with air and naval exercises. The last few weeks of the battalion training cycle often coincided with annual autumn military maneuvers.