Synthetic fuel could have reduced Japan's strategic panic

Could better infrastructure have given Japan enough resources for its fleet?

Not enough to outbuild America, but synthetic fuel and stronger yards could have made the fleet more sustainable and Japan less strategically desperate.

Synthetic fuel would not have enabled Japan to win an industrial war. Coal-to-liquid plants and stronger shipyard infrastructure could nevertheless have provided more usable fuel and maintenance capacity. Even lower-grade fuel could have supported engines designed around it and reduced the navy's acute operating constraints. A less fragile resource base might also have weakened the inferiority complex that encouraged leaders to seek security through expansion.