Yep. And the squeaky hammer got the grease, too! There were factions under every rock but the militarists ran over all the rest. Within their ranks there was much dissent also, although in a uniform a man had much less chance of getting beheaded.
What is particularly interesting is the effect the brief & remote border war Japan had with USSR in ‘39 had on the military’s eventual decision to settle on the IJN’s southern strategy, which was kicked off by the attack on PH.