True, but with IntelliJ 99% of what you wrote is auto-configured.
Eclipse needs a bit of hand-holding, but almost everything you described is due to project configuration.
> Some genius java logging library, I can only guess.
That's your problem, you're assuming that Java is dumb and its libraries are dumb. They're not. I'm reasonably sure that <<all>> mainstream Java logging libraries log to console by default.
The previous engineer must have been a marvel of a developer to manage to screw even that up.
What I'd say is: Java, especially older enterprise code, had a ton of over-engineered patterns. These are slowly fading away, except for Spring, and even Spring's simpler these days. Java also tends to have some low quality and a ton of average but unmotivated working devs on Java projects. So yeah, there's that ecosystem problem.
But for example, if you'd start a new project and you approach Java with an open mind, it's one of the most powerful and flexible techs available. And it's much more modern than the stereotypes imply.