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Japan military assuming more global role

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Article 9 of the Japanese "PEACE" Constitution has kept the Japanese people free of any entanglements for the past 60 plus years. The USA Marines were fighting the Japanese Military in China back in 1934 and have been allies of the Chinse right up till the present day. Frankly speaking I acnnot tell the truth about some of you "war mongers"because I would be deletedby the JT Monitor who has already deleted me at least two dozen times. I write from experience while some of you blog to make yourself feel BIG.

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Ossan, we're describing the same thing. There's a minor difference on the role of 100 yen shops in all this, but otherwise we're in agreement.

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Grafton describes reality. Tokhustla dscribes an alternate reality fantasy.

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grafton, Aside from a few minor points, I think we pretty much see eye to eye here.

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TokyoHustla at 05:37 AM JST - 30th March

That is the most comic book depiction of the worlds future I have seen in a long time. If I really believed you believed what you have written I would say what I think & then get deleted again. On the one hand we have your future fantasy & on the other hand we have the Marion’s 70 year old fantasy of Japan, neither one does either of you much credit as rational thinkers.

Japan may well have a symbiotic relationship with the US, but it has never been the puppet that the UK has been. Clause 9 may have been forced on to a defeated Japan in 1945 & at that time resented, but with time Japan has seen its usefulness, they have been able to avoid pressure from the US to deploy troops where the US needed them. Unlike some other countries no Japanese soldiers have been killed as surrogate US soldiers.

Clause 9 will eventually go, but it will go when it is in Japans interest for it to go. This opens the door to guess work by the over the top anti Japanese, some see Japan becoming militarist again, while others say they are now too weak as a people to know how to be soldiers. I think Japan have a lot more intelligence & backbone than they are being given credit for. I also think that they have learned to stay out of wars, especially other peoples wars. As for those that believe China will one day walk over Japan, think again. They may have bought &/or built all the weapons they need but they will never have the people, these are the people that make the craxxx that is on sale in the 100 yen shops & that really is who they are. The largest cost cutting back stabbing country in the world, China faced against a unified Japan? China will not risk it, such another total loss of face, no way.

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A "more global" is not quite the right way to put it. The US has promised Japan Asia, but not Russia or India. Japan will be allowed to take China, southeast Asia and Mongolia, and use those resources to help our alliance. Of course, the US will then have the leverage necessary against Russia and will be able to once again exploit Africa for resources without Chinese meddling. The New World Order is taking shape and will be solidified with the destruction of the DPRK and the internal strife to follow in the PRC. Iran will be cornered and unable to countermand Israeli offensives, and the US/Israel alliance will turn the middle east into a single state, entirely emasculated and subservient to its consumerist overlords.

Global politics is heading towards this path, and the DPRK is only helping it come faster. If ROK is lost in the process, so be it. We can accept some level of collateral damage now that key industry has been moved to Taiwan, Malaysia and Indonesia. ROK has made itself irrelevant through the long process of reunification.

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There are only three countries left today that arguably could and do "invade" other countries for various reasons ranging from liberation to keeping from separating...The United States, Russia and China. All other countries, and this undeniably includes Japan, are lesser powers who aren't interested or don't have enough to gain by stick their necks out too far.

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At this point, does it really matter much for Japan to assume a more global military role? Who cares?

It's not like the Japanese have the capabilities of times past to invade any of their neighbors anymore, and even if they did they would be faced with a well armed South Korea, and nuclear armed North Korea, and a super nuclear armed China.

Times have changed so much. Japan, chained to the United States, will forever have her military options limited to whatever her master wants and requires. And her neighbors have certainly done what they can to arm themselves to the teeth in order to enact their national ambitions, whatever they may be.

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Does anyone really think the Japan of today will revert to 1930-40s Japanese military fascism. Todays citizens of Japan are not the same as the past.

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limitations imposed on the SDF by Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, >which was so magnanimously bestowed on Japan after WWII by the >victorious U.S. and its allies.

Article 9 was "bestowed" on Japan by the United States, not the other allies. They wanted Emperor Hirohito prosecuted as a War Criminal. We, the United States needed him to remain on the thrown, albeit without the kind of powers he had prior to and during WWII, to hold Japan together in the immediate post war years to avoid any kind of civil unrest that could concievably open the door for Soviet intervention. Hence, the United States was able to satisfy the other allies with Article 9. That said, we have been regreting it since 5 years after WWII ended and that is a situation that continues to this day and underlines the entire above article.

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Marion, You can verify what I say by googling for news and editorials all over the internet. China considers the United States to be their strategic adversary. They have been training with the US as the designated enemy since 2000. We spy on them, they spy on us. Nothing bothers them more than the presence of our 7th Fleet in Japan. So please stop with your silly 1930-40s frozen in time rants about Japanese military fascism, it's been over for 64 years. We, the United States literally forced Japan to create the SDF in the face of the Korean War (where your beloved communist Chinese shot and killed American troops) and we have been mainitaining a policy of encouraging Japan to play a greater role in security matters ever since. The greatest stumbling block to our goal has been and continues to be Article 9 of their constitution, and we would like nothing better for it to be changed and "collective defense" be recognized and implemented. So please, join the rest of us in the 21st century.

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Military? Japan doesn't have a military only SDF... who wrote this?

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nothing kicks the economy into gear like a military campaign ; )

unless it is the exporting of military technology and goods which is the real reason for the push to amend article 9.

money, pure and simple. it is japans last grasp at maintaining its economic might.

japans ruin was in mimicking european and american colonialism.

they continue down the same foolhardy path mimicking americas economy.

the only problem is they have not enough food nor raw materials to survive on their own for more than a couple weeks, and as soon as the neighboring countries that japan is raping for raw materials and cheap labor advance enough to prosper without being japan's step child, japan will dry up n blow away as so much fodder for the chinese that will absorb them without a shot.

japans future is in being the information center (glorified OL) and play ground ( soap ) for china.

go japan.

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More militarism exported. Wonderful, Japan.

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Article 9 is helping Japan show the international community that the DPRK is clearly in the wrong in this incident, while Japan is working w/in the constraints of Article 9. The past has shown that the DPRK does not hold the opinion of the world community as important, but Japan does care. This is an important point being made on the internet.

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What Belzeebub said.

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Japan has savored the past 65 plus years - it has been a "walk in the Park - thanks to Article Nine of the no war Peace Constitution. However we are seeing a resurgence of the REAL Japanese attitude and believe me when I say that China is also aware of this change of attitude. The utter destruction wrecked upon Japan in the final days of 1945 (WWII) will be dwarfed by what could happen if Japan persists - Know that China is now armed and ready and know that China is now ready for retribution - they have not forgotten what happened to them during WWII.

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Is it a matter of courage or common sense holding onto restrictions that stop another rise to power by militaristic elitists. All kinds of warlike propaganda is starting to raise its ugly head around the world, I think the Japanese are showing courage and intelligence to stand up against it. Promotion of fear is quite obvious in this article with words like "Unlike China’s double-digit defense spending growth, Japan’s has remained flat for years. China has for years outspent Japan—$70 billion to $49 billion in 2009." and "serve as a counterbalance to the growing military strength of China." How much of that Chinese defense spending is really just soaking up the unemployed in China as China's biggest fear at present is a government backlash from the unemployed, not an attack from outside? And more fear promotion with; " from a potential attack by its unpredictable and often belligerent neighbor, North Korea." This article could have been made much more relevant about Japanese Taking a more global role without the inclusion of this paranoid war mogering garbage.

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"At this year’s “North Wind” exercises, annual maneuvers held with the United States, U.S. commanders said training involved more joint attacks, more collaboration, closer command and control—just the kind of thing that would be needed if the Japanese were to be fighting alongside the U.S. in Iraq or Afghanistan."

We already know the "contributions" Japan made in Samawah, Iraq while being protected by forces from other countries, so it's rather ridiculous to expect the SDF to "fight" alongside the U.S. and other NATO forces in Afghanistan down the road, and this doesn't even take into account limitations imposed on the SDF by Article 9 of Japan's Constitution, which was so magnanimously bestowed on Japan after WWII by the victorious U.S. and its allies.

But then again, Barack Obama's "Yes, We Can" is all the rage right now, so perhaps the Japanese will have the courage to amend their constitution, and show their fighting spirit in something other than a few sports.

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Yawn. This AP story is the fourth or fifth update of something that came out around the time Nakasone was prime minister, back in the early 80s. Does recycling news help conserve natural resources?

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