Search

This article looks at the Japanese military. Japan's "Peace Constitution," which went into effect in 1947, expressly forbids the Japanese from ever having armed forces. Nonetheless, the Maritime Self-Defense Force or the JMSDF--like its counterpart ground and air self-defense forces created in the 1950s--is a significant power. The JMSDF rates as the fourth most powerful navy in the world. Overall, Japan ranks among the top three or four countries in defense spending. For years, Japanese dealt with this apparent contradiction by not talking about it much, at least publicly. Japanese troops were used mostly in natural disasters and accidents, mounting rescue operations after earthquakes and plane crashes. But then, in the early 1990s, Japan began sending the SDF on peacekeeping missions abroad, to places like Cambodia and Mozambique. In 1993 North Korea test-launched its Nodong-1 missile into the Sea of Japan. The provocation forced Japan to regard the Pyongyang regime as a serious threat. Public opinion, traditionally antimilitarist, began to shift. The North Korean threat--together with the 9/11 terrorists attacks on America and China's buildup of its forces--is pushing Japan to face up to the thorny question of just how much of a military it really wants. Last week the Japanese Defense Agency issued a white paper urging the transformation of the SDF into a "more functional force" to cope with the new threats. The paper emphasized better "mobility and flexibility" and warned that Pyongyang is likely to increase the range of its missiles. A serious discussion has begun about amending the Constitution to recognize a military role for Japan.

Focuses on the disapproval of Japan on the military policy of the U.S. against Vietnam and Communist China. Information on the large percentage of the Japanese public who express their antipathy toward the war in Vietnam; Accusation of U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Far Eastern Affairs, William Bundy, that Japan underestimates the threat that Chinese Communist domination of South and Southeast Asia would present to Japan's own interest; Refutation stated by U.S. Ambassador to Japan, Edwin O. Reischauer, on charges of communist infiltration; Conflict between the U.S. and Japanese press due to the Vietnam war issue; Remarks stated by Reischauer during a speech that many Japanese feel that U.S. bases in Japan and Okinawa are more a threat to their security rather than an insurance policy against aggression.