Japan's defense buildup to come under scrutiny in 2018

We can only hope for those remains of sanity and common human decency to repel all the attempts, using what is left of so-called democracy over there.

The question is, if Japan wants to be a part of another Cold War. And thereby be assigned as an attractive target by Russia, China and North Korea.

Will Japan make themselves a "tasty" target for North Korean missiles, or will Japan stick to the so far successful Defense strategy, which involves not aquiring "tasty" weapon systems!

Will Japan make themselves a "tasty" target for North Korean missiles, or will Japan stick to the so far successful Defense strategy, which involves not aquiring "tasty" weapon systems!

So success relies on praying that the better nature of Kim-Jong Un prevails because he has clearly proven that he is a very nice guy and its those Imperialist Americans that have stained his good character.

Japan might not be the most rubust democracy, but is a democracy. It's mostly apathetic populous had the ability to pick and choose their leaders and change laws if they are so inclined. Which is pretty much the opposite of Russia (run against Putin, go to jail or a grave, do not pass go, do not collect 200), the CCP (all hail the Ministry of Truth or be disappeared), and North Korea (populace held hostage in a torture chamber servicing the will of one psychotic). The three evil countries in the neighborhood have nuclear weapons and the CCP and Russia try almost anything to bolster NK. NK regularly threatens to destroy Japan and launches missles of the the country. Almost all that is happening is a result of the unmitigated evil that is NK and the unrelenting support of the CCP, which could peacefully shut down NK in minutes. In the face of this situation, Japan must absolutely fire up a missle defence system, an unfortunate situation necessitated by NK, the CCP, and Russia. Frankly, though, such a defense system is not foolproof. Sadly, thanks to the horror that is NK and the refusal of the CCP to reign in their favorite distraction, Japan's smartest choice would be to invest in a few Trident II SSBNs. There is no greater defense currently available. And, yes, it would be a form of cold-war, but Japan is not the one who has been attempting to build a nuclear arsenal in violation of the UN, world opinion, and reason. Nor should Japan take it lying down. It was a horrible situation, but European and USA military power was the only thing that checked the evil of the Soviet Union.

Strikebreaker555Today 09:06 am JST

The question is, if Japan wants to be a part of another Cold War. And thereby be assigned as an attractive target by Russia, China and North Korea.

Why ask this question now? Japan has always been part of the Cold War since 1945.

This is really simple, whether Japan arms itself or not, does not change the fact that other countries historically have proven they have long memories, either way China wants Japan to stay their steel armed or otherwise. Japan is moving in the right direction to at least take precautions and assist where it can it has that right. Of course this doesn't really speak much of an alliance when Japan voted NO against the US but yet in the same breath made the statement they would procure defense weapons from the US. hmmm.

choice is to finish Tokyo and have 50 NPP targeted by MRIMs, submarines, and fast war boats. this choice would involve spending vast amounts of tax money, 20 million deaths and supporting america's economy. another option is to de-escalate the crisis.

Just this week Abe peed off Russia. China is a massive nation upgrading because of America and is developing supersonic unstoppable ballistic missiles.

war doesn't look good. don't rely on Captain America, they still can't even beat tailiban after...

Japan actually needs this military build up to spark the economy, the same way Uncle Sam does it!

The government ..... saying that Japan leaves that role to its defense ally the United States

Very sad situation. If you don't want to feed your own army you'll have to feed a foreign army on your soil.

Japan should (and it can) defend itself. The present "mommy, mommy help me" mentality is a disgrace.

The political climate has changed since Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor. We must never forget how war kills and how it forges allies. Peace is the goal we all seek, we need to stop this foolishness and we must move forward in peace!

The political climate has changed since Japan attacked the US at Pearl Harbor.

japan entered WW2 because america stopped fuel supplies. i guess NK probably knows this and is preparing.

japan entered WW2 because america stopped fuel supplies

Because Japan was using the oil in its attacks on China

japan entered WW2 because america stopped fuel supplies. i guess NK probably knows this and is preparing (GoodlucktoyouDec. 30, 2017 09:44 pm JST)

@Goodlucktoyou, You've got your facts wrong.  The root cause of the U.S. sanctions against Japan was Japan's expansionism throughout Asia, beginning with the invasion and aggression against China beginning in 1931. The U.S. tried diplomacy to convince Japan to get out of China but to no avail. As a result, sanctions ranging from freezing assets to oil embargoes were imposed on Japan. But instead of peacefully withdrawing from China and ceasing its military aggression, Japan responded with military action by attacking Pearl Harbor, and invading other countries in 1941 and thus bringing the U.S. into the Asian conflict. 

Don't tell me Japan was "invited" into China and had every right to occupy China until 1945 and that the U.S were the aggressor.

Today, North Korea upset the stability in the region by embarking on a program of building a nuclear arsenal and intermediate and long range missiles. In response, the U.S. and UN and Japan imposed sanctions against North Korea.

With the introduction of nuclear weapons and missile capability in North Korea, the parity is now out of balance and unfortunately, the only course left (without resorting to military action) is to equalize Japan and South Korea by building up its military capability beyond defense to counter the now increasing North Korean nuclear and missile threat. 

Realistically, Japan is going to have to deal with its Article 9 restrictions and allowing it to build up its military capabilities or continue to host U.S. military and allow them to increase presence should the crisis becomes more critical.  You can't have it both ways.

But let's remember, North Korea made the threats against Japan and the U.S., not the other way around. And also, let's not forget that it was North Korea that made the first aggressive move by invading South Korea in 1950 with the goal of governing the entire Korean peninsula under DPRK regime, which it still intends to do.

I don't think South Korea, Japan and the U.S. is willing to accept a DPRK-governed Unified Korea allied with the PRC China and Russia. That would totally destabilize the entire region.