I had a hard time believing it when I read it, but apparently it is true. What an odd thing. Hell, they had radios. I don’t get it.
There were QC, control and availability issues with Japanese aerial radios throughout the war. They had radios, but they didn’t always work, they weren’t easy to use and they couldn’t trust them.
References here: http://www.j-aircraft.com/research/gregspringer/radios/radio_systems.htm