For their part, the Japanese apparently did not realize that their concept of a perimeter defense using dispersed island garrisons had serious flaws in that the garrisons were too far apart to be sufficiently mutually supporting to prevent penetration by enemy carrier forces.
For japanernes vedkommende, var de tilsyneladende ikke klar over, at deres koncept med et udkantsforsvar ved hjælp af spredte øgarnisoner havde alvorlige mangler i og med, at garnisoner var for langt fra hinanden til at give tilstrækkeligt indbyrdes støtte for at forhindre indtrængen af fjendens hangarskibsstyrker.