Well I can assure you I took some nice shots of Oklahoma, which will be included in the next version of the Travel Guide.I'll take our plains, farms, and cows over dust, dust, and more dust any day.
I'm very happy with the direction the Japanese AI is moving. A far cry from most of my experiences of Japan declaring war on half the world and then proceeding to masterfully sit there. Though, I suppose the surprise modifier would still apply in that case. The Allies would be desperately searching for the phantom invasion force for some time, I think.
And yes, the Japanese AI is far more agressive. We're still tweaking it a wee bit, but it's looking pretty good IMHO.