@ABWorsham:
I find it strange that the Japanese used the submarine in the war to shell targets rather than hunt shipping lanes.
The use which the Japanese made of their military resources was sometimes odd – or, let’s say, less-than-optimal. I don’t recall the details, but another example is the fact that Japanese military transport ships shuttling between Japan and the forward areas of operations (like the Solomons and the Dutch East Indies) would sometimes travel completely empty on one leg of the journey because of such factors as lack of coordination or cooperation between the Army and the Navy. This was an inefficient use of Japan’s transport tonnage. Better planning would have ensured that outward-bound ships were always packed with fresh troops and equipment and that inward-bound ships were always packed with raw materials and other items needing to be brought back to Japan.