I was wondering if there are any Japanese generals who were genius' much like Rommel, Patton or Gunderian were? We never hear much about them, at least in basic academic circles. And, if there are or aren't, are there any good books that go into detail on the Chinese front and the Pacific?
Bill Yenne's The Imperial Japanese Army: The Invincible Years from 2014 covers the main IJA's operations in the Pacific Theatre in good detail, with biographies of its most prominent leaders and generals, such as Tomoyuki Yamashita, whose 25th Army led the invasion of Malaya and Singapore, from Kota Bharu to invasion of Singapore, which Yamashita all achieved in a minimal time frame, while being outnumbered by the british troops by a scale of 2:1. This earned Yamashita the nickname 'Tiger of Malaya'. He was later repositioned to Manchuria for political reasons, but after the fall of Tojo's cabinet was put in charge of IJA forces in the defence of Philippines in 1944.
Yamashita being seen as the most famous IJA's general, other famous mentions would include Masaharu Homma ( led invasion of Philippines in 1941 ), Hitoshi Imamura ( led invasion of Java in 1942 ) and Hisuichi Terauchi ( not a general, a marshal, but in charge of the Malaya theatre 1942-1945 ).
Regarding 2nd Sino-Japanese war, the Invincible Years don't cover it much, so I'm sure someone else would have a better book to recommend.
Sources: Bill Yenne : The Imperial Japanese Army: The Invincible Years 2014.