Japan to spend $2 bil on land-based Aegis missile defense system

The missiles themselves are clearly defensive only which falls in line with what has come before so I see no problem in this what so ever. It always alarms me when people get antsy about installing such devices as they would be the first to complain if there wasn't such a system if an attack actually happened.  Its very difficult to turn the Ageis into a first strike weapon and im not sure it can even be used as one!  What China is worried about is, not the actual warheads or delivery device but the powerful radar and scanners that they use to track incoming projectiles. These systems have enormous range and the ability to peer deep into China, potentially allowing the US and her allies to see what they are up to.

The right to defend oneself against a hostile neighbour, who harbours hostile intent towards you and your people, who isn't afraid to shoot experimental weapons of dubious quality and reliability over your territory, threatening the lives of your population and infrastructure is a right that every nation deserves!

Good on you Japan, lets get this up and running!

Very good news and a prudent investment for the future. In such a volatile region, who knows what may happen in the future

Nobody messes with the 120 kg guy at the end of the alley.

Japan should have the capability to make NK and their sponsors (Russia and China) think twice about engaging militarily with them.

Let' see what the reaction from China is...

Who cares. When a neighboring country keeps shooting missiles over your land and threatening with nuclear bombs, you are not sitting still. And nobody in the world can complain when you add a few gears to prepare for the worst.

No One knows that this system will be able to defend Japanese people or not.

Japan is always "good customer" for military industrial complex of US.

Trump sells arms to everyone he can, then says "look how great the US economy is doing (thanks to me and me alone)!"

not likely to be operational until 2023 at the earliest

hope this is not after the event........

Abe will spend. Japanese salary people will struggle on the 30000yen a month pocket money.

Goodlucktoyou

Who gets 30,000 pocket money? Is that the national allowance?

Atleast Japan will be getting military gear whether it is overpriced is another issue. Abe gave Ivanka 5.7 billion yen with no strings attached or need for accountability and it didn't raise eyebrows of taxpayers.

A complete waste of money. Clear up Japan's own nuclear problems with the money. The nations nuclear reactors are more of a threat than Kim's nukes.

The danger is more Trump and the Americans than Kim. Kim is developing weapons to counter against Trump's threats, and who can blame him for doing that.

Don't escalate, de-escalate.

Hahahaha Military complex 1 Japanese people 0 yet again dear leader places us appeasement above Well being of the people. Two billion would have gone a long way towards Tohoku. The world keeps on spinning.

Given that they won't be ready for another 5 years AT LEAST to begin with, using the current situation and saying war could come at any time and what not is just complete hogwash. And between this and Abe giving our taxes to every nation under the sun EXCEPT Japan, it's no wonder we "must raise taxes to make up for the short-fall in funding" for social security.

An excuse from PM Abe to further build and strengthen the army and enhance a hawkish re arming program.

Let' see what the reaction from China is , if they react as they did to the South Korean decision to buy and deploy the THAAD system, it will cut off the Chinese tourist flow and that would be extremely bad news for a consumer orientated market. 

And that would be a very hard blow to the Japanese economy of which retail is now importantly influenced by the shopping tourism.