Whilst not having read any of the books you guys have quoted, it is my understanding that Japan in the 20s was very westernised, but that a number of seperate events happened to coincide and lead to a very militarised society. The great depression, a yearning for a brighter place in the sun, the perceived humiliation of the washington treaty and so on. Net result, a militarised society hyped up on nationalistic steroids that led to a poorly equipped (by western standards at least) army that had total belief in itself and its ability combined with a healthy contempt for their decadent western adversaries.
However, something similar happened in Hitler's Germany, by the time the Hitler Youth were old enough to fight and formed the Hitler Jugund Div they gained a reputation of being fanatics who would fight to the death rather than surrender. My point being that any nation can breed a generation of quasi religious fanatics if the government in charge desires it.