LDP to urge gov't to possess capability to strike enemy bases

Japan needs to develop a policy of "total defence" similar to Finland and now Sweden re-incarnating a policy they had in the past. Japan could learn a great deal from the Nordic countries.

Akie,

Your not following the news and you didn't even read the article all the way.

It says the reason is North Korea... You know, the country shooting missiles over Japan, the same country who said they will Nuke Japan.

Japan must possess all deterrent capabilities for self defence otherwise it will be overpowered by the hostile powers sooner or later .

I don't want it but given the flippant nature of Trump and the threats in the region Japan could well end up in a place were it needs to defend itself more or less alone... again it isn't what I want.. but I wonder if its inevitable.

When push comes to shove, no one or country will protect Japan or its citizens better or more fiercely than its own security forces. The world is a very different place today than 50 plus years ago and the Asian Pacific areas are showing expansion on all sides of Japan. More defenceive measures with first strike capabilities have become more and more a reality.

Long overdue for Japan to take some measures to defend itself better. Can't wait until you get hit to develop the weapons necessary or change the policy.

Japan already tried the peaceful way. It's a pacifist country with a pacifist constitution, yet our neighbors are shooting missiles over our head, threatening Japan with nuclear destruction, have a propaganda machine and paid trolls all over the internet for the sole purpose of attacking Japan and to talk about the past or how apologies are not sincere, how compensation multiple times wasn't good enough.

Good for Japan.

@Akie

Constitutions can be changed. Just look at China's recent change to allow Xi to rule for life.

Lawful changes to a countries constitution are fine even for Japan.

Being able to Strike the bases of ones enemies is also not contrary to international laws. Even China has that ability.

So to recap, Japan can alter its constitution in a lawful manner and it can purchase or manufacture the means to strike an enemies bases if it chooses to.

Should it choose to? In my opinion yes.

Matt: Finland is doing some really smart things with their defense in response to Russia’s recent belligerence. Modest troop increase, planned ship and aircraft modernization, and a re-emphasis on cooperation and interoperability with and between European allies and the US.

Japan faces a much different and more threatening environment than Finland. Three hostile nuclear powers to the west. An unsteady almost forced alliance with South Korea and a primary ally in the US that is a declining super power and itself a bit unsteady under the weight of 80 years of global leadership responsibilities. China is slowly but steadily assuming regional dominance in East Asian.

It is obvious that Japan will need to step up and do much more to defend itself as they become more isolated and it must learn to fend for itself. Domestic politics and a strong streak of pacifism in Japan makes it difficult for responsible people in government to take the forward looking steps to meet future defense needs. In fact hat sense, more gradual improvements in defense of the sort Finland is undertaking may be a good way forward for Japan.

Why did it take so long? Do it already.

Good to hear that Japan is finally taking its defense seriously. NK is an existential threat and they should be pre-emptively eliminated and Kim Jong Un if they are on the verge of imminent attack

"I'm sure, but the best way to prevent being assaulted/attacked by neighbours is not to provoke them.."

The way Poland provoke Nazi Germany in 1939? The way South Korea provoke North Korea in 1950?

The way the Jews provoke the Nazis at Auschwitz and yes the way America provoke Japan on December 7th?

Si vis pacem, para bellum "If you want peace, prepare for war"

This is long overdue, Japan needs to be able to defend itself from its neighbours

@Akie

There is NO international law prohibiting the ability to strike an enemy. In fact the UN has a law that specifically ALLOWS countries to strike another in self defense.

Just because a country is big does not in itself require it to have a large military. It is a choice.

If China was not threatening Japanese soverignty as it is in the east China sea then perhaps Japan would have a little more faith in China's assertion that it is friendly.

Again, people see the threat of North Korea and direct threats have to be taken seriously but there is the very real chance that depending on negotiations the American presence for good or bad may change significantly, i.e the beginnings of building up for war, or the beginning of less US presence in the region.

Both leave Japan in a potentially bad position.

I see Akie is on here again promoting China and Japan alignment, the trouble is they don't align, fundamentally the differences are large, besides which as I pointed out the are already some of the largest trading partners in the world which is what really matters, but what I doubt any Japanese person wants Chinese style governance in Japan.

This isn't to say there isn't problems in Japan and with its leadership, of course there is, but its very different to whats happening in China, as freedom of speech and information, human rights issues.

I believe Japan, Australia, South Korea, India, the South East Asian nations must work together to not challenge but keep China in check, with or without help from the US.

This isn't to say that China is an enemy, I don't think it is necessarily but the signs aren't great, massive military build ups, and other issues like issues of "soft" influence and intimidation in politics and education in Australia and New Zealand from China.

"we forget Abe and his wife cried (well, Akie did, anyway) at the nationalist education of kids at Moritomo Gakuen -- kids barely able to participate in sports day events, but who were forced to listen to and preach about what islands belong to whom and to obey the Emperor, etc."

I suggest you take a trip to South Korea, North Korea and China and take a look their education, if you want to see a real nationalist education.

Here is an example from South Korea:

"Ms. Oh introduced several drawings by Korean school children that made my heart ache with shock and sadness. The drawings depicted the Japanese national flag being stomped on, or being torn apart with a cooking knife. There was also a drawing of Japan being obliterated with nuclear bombs as well as one of a funeral following Japan’s annihilation. The children cheered at pictures of Atomic bombs victims.

Here is an example from China:

"The fighting against Japanese game are commonly playing in school. The mainland Chinese will think it is very normal things since happend all the time. But, this education will easily create the general negative impression about the Japanese people in the kids’ mind from the beginning and subconciously the “hatred”is passed.The Chinese words of “抗日”in the photo means exactly “Anti-Japanese”. Yes. The whole nation. That is how a 6 year old kid will understand."

Matt: Finland is doing some really smart things with their defense in response to Russia’s recent belligerence. Modest troop increase, planned ship and aircraft modernization, and a re-emphasis on cooperation and interoperability with and between European allies and the US.

Japan faces a much different and more threatening environment than Finland. Three hostile nuclear powers to the west. An unsteady almost forced alliance with South Korea and a primary ally in the US that is a declining super power and itself a bit unsteady under the weight of 80 years of global leadership responsibilities. China is slowly but steadily assuming regional dominance in East Asian.

It is obvious that Japan will need to step up and do much more to defend itself as they become more isolated and it must learn to fend for itself. Domestic politics and a strong streak of pacifism in Japan makes it difficult for responsible people in government to take the forward looking steps to meet future defense needs. In fact hat sense, more gradual improvements in defense of the sort Finland is undertaking may be a good way forward for Japan.

Totally agree. Japans situation is even more precarious. Not just one, but 2, potentially 3 nuclear powers and somewhat geographically isolated from their main ally. Of course that's part of the purpose of having U.S bases in Japan. To make that isolation less acute. You can overcome some of that isolation further by being far more active in ASEAN and I see that happening already. Japan is already a big economic investor in ASEAN and ASEAN is keen not to be reliant on China or anyone else for their future prospects.

The next step is a lot more military cooperation. It really should be the task of Japan, Australia, India and yes South Korea to present an equally weighty, democratic alternative to the status of Chinese client state. Those 4 countries combined, especially with India's rise in future, represent a sufficient counterweight to China. In terms of the U.S becoming a declining superpower, its more like both China and Russia are becoming genuine competitors, militarily. The U.S is spending more on defence than ever and is still creating leading technologies, its just that China and Russia have caught up and exceeded them in some areas, but Russia is really quite poor economically and their ability to influence through economics long term is very limited. That's why the E.U is attractive to Eastern European countries despite the cultural ties they have with Russia. Because the E.U is far wealthier and of no military threat. China is the real problem long term.

In terms of the total defence concept. Here's why I think its a great concept for Japan in a couple basic points.

The concept is to be implemented in a country with a strong democratic tradition, not dissimilar from Japan, so it therefore serves as a template of what can be achieved in a democracy, rather than an authoritarian state.

The Scandinavians are still very homogeneous in terms of culture. Japan is even more so. This makes it far easier to implement (no language barriers, few cultural barriers) and again serves as a good template

The Japanese have a strong, group based culture, even more so than Finns or Swedes which are more individualistic. This should make it even easier to implement in Japan.

Japan has serious natural resource problems. It is totally reliant in many cases on imports of basic resources. Its a more acute problem than the Scandinavians have. It is absolutely essential that Japan stockpile extensively and really focus on overcoming the struggle that would come with some sort of naval blockade by China or others. Japan is very open to blockade and that is a serious concern.

Akie, Im not sure if its a language issue but suggesting anything is perfect, let alone to say China is a perfect neighbor is pretty far fetched.

Things aren't generally perfect, leaders aren't always right, no system of governance and so on, its generally scales of less harm and more harm, with some bad even in the best of situations.

As for everyday Chinese people seeing Anti-China rhetoric from Japan on their news... that just goes to show the terrible shame of government controlled media and propaganda, sometimes of course Japanese politicians speak about China, but certainly not all the time, and to be honest Im not sure precisely what you mean by Anti-china, that means anytime anyone from Japan has any issue with anything China does?

China is facing a massive challenges as its massive economic growth goals starts to become more difficult, with a growing middle class that wants better conditions, better living standards, better salaries China will face what all countries with developing areas end up facing which is a population unhappy with the government.

Rather than try to openly deal with this problem, reducing access to information and allowing politicians to stay in power without public input, on top of which simultaneously building up its military when there is no real threat to mainland China and suggest that there are threats or issues with neighboring countries is standard operation when trying divert attention from issues at home.

Are these kinds of issues are not unique to China, or course not, Japan, the US, Russia etc etc all countries use these tactics to appease the population but history doesn't have a very good record when individuals are given almost unlimited power, Japan, Germany, Soviet Union, especially while military buildups are happening.

Abe probably won't get another term or be the PM for much longer if these current scandals in Japan continue, but at least he can be removed unlike the changes in China recently.

You should all be supportive of the Constitution change as a way to get the U.S. military forces out of mainland Japan and Okinawa. Of course the next thing you know, Japan will move its military forces onto the bases on Okinawa vacated by the U.S......and they'll be flying Ospreys, F-35s, etc.

And the U.S. will have to move its forces to South Korea.....and then it will be their problem.

Japan certainly should acquire and maintain the ability. Doesn't mean they will use it. But having the ability alone may prevent other nations from taking actions that would force Japan to use it. An excellent deterrent.

Happy to know Japan is upgrading its defense and it’s outdated constitution.

Regardless of what some may think, it is important to be able to defend yourself. Think not? Crack open a history book to any page, and see what happened to those who could not, would not, or did not defend themselves.

First strike wasn't special.Make sure the nation can substain retailiations from belligerences,maybe Japan is given a pretext for them to carry out their vengeances they desrired fir long long time!

LDP to urge gov't to possess capability to strike enemy bases

Isn’t that a little bit like talking to yourself. If the LDP is urging itself it’s really a forgone conclusion.

NZ2011, tell me one state that Japan would prefer to be in China's place.

(Translation:) How dare Korea work for peace when my scandals are mounting and my dreams of changing the constitution for war are threatened!

It's just another "urge" don't worry as several "urges" in the past have fallen flat.

NZ2011, fair argument. What could and should Japan do ? Against China is immoral and suicidal. Millions Japanese were allowed to return home safely at the end of the war when Japan was a wasteland. 国破れて山河在り、城春にして草木深し. There is a massive military build up in China, why ? China is a big country, her military must be big. But China never threatens Japan by forming military allies. China can ally with US, with Russia. Both countries officially asked China to do so. China has official policy to be independent. China is a perfect neighbor of Japan. But Abe changed the equation by challenging China in his second term. To contain China is Abe's official policy. Abe proposed stupid ideas one after another. Everyday when Chinese turn on TV or open papers, all they see is anti-China rhetoric from Japanese govt. Abe talks about getting ready for wars, he got China ready. Abe talks about collective defense, he gave all reasons for China to build up. If Abe thinks he can contain China with his quad, he is day dreaming. If Abe gets another term, China will be 4 times Japan, even 5 times, before Abe finishes his term. If Abe is friendly with China, it will be 4 times market for Japan. If Abe wants to be an enemy of China, it will be 4 times military forces Japan has to deal with. Abe has to choose.

So the LDP who have been the ones in charge for 70+ years now "urge" the Nippon Kaigi government to change the constitution and build an offensive capability. Things are crook. Give peace a chance? Before bombing or being bombed.

Before possessing the capability to strike enemy bases, Japan needs to regain its sovereignty and remove US bases from Japan or any arms will be under US control. In addition, Japan needs to decide who its enemies are. Beware of the wolf in sheep’s clothing. The US is only your friend has long has they can dominate you.

Well Japan cannot trust the Yanks, they change sides faster than I change my underwear. One minute you are a ally of the US, next minute they are trying to out you with mercs and bombing you to high heaven.

Of course. Wouldn't want to buy all those expansive fighter jets for nothing now.

Trying to spoil the Trump-Kim meeting?

Abe should fire the people who made this advice!

They must be awfully butt-hurt that Trump wants to get along with Kim Jung-Un after they've spent so much time and money trying to get other nations to isolate them and expecting the US would back them up later.

Abe continues to spit on the people of Japan and demand they lick it up obediently.

Darmstadt: "This is long overdue, Japan needs to be able to defend itself from its neighbours"

You won't hear this, I'm sure, but the best way to prevent being assaulted/attacked by neighbours is not to provoke them, and owning up to the past wouldn't hurt, either. Abe has done nothing BUT provoke and push, and is now using further fear tactics to push his own agenda and change the constitution. War is a big money maker, you know, and most of these blue-blood politicians have vested interests in either companies that would benefit in one form or another, with some even saying they have no interest in improving relations with neighbours (and a few saying they'd like to see how a war with China or Korea went. Ishihara is a prime example). And before you deny it, lest we forget Abe and his wife cried (well, Akie did, anyway) at the nationalist education of kids at Moritomo Gakuen -- kids barely able to participate in sports day events, but who were forced to listen to and preach about what islands belong to whom and to obey the Emperor, etc.

Abe really wants war, doesn't he? Spirit of the samurai, brandishing his katana with the Imperial Flag wrapped around his head, deep in a concrete bunker whereabouts unknown.

smithinjapan, I don't always agree with you, but I agree wholeheartedly with your post above:

the best way to prevent being assaulted/attacked by neighbours is not to provoke them, and owning up to the past wouldn't hurt, either. Abe has done nothing BUT provoke and push, and is now using further fear tactics to push his own agenda and change the constitution.

Right on!

LDP should stop protecting Abe and stop promoting him as the only one to save Japan. Abe has some strengths. He united LDP, but his way is wrong. Take his quad policy as an example, Abe puts Japan in a awkward position. Very soon, Japan has to choose between China and Australia, between China and India. Abe wants to improve the relationship with China ? Fine, then choose China and give up the quad. At this stage, Abe can't be trusted. He is just a talker, and lied a lot.

AlexBecu, I understand NK problem. To resolve it, Japan needs China, not striking capability. Northeast Asians should get along with each other, they have to.

Peter14, constitution can be changed for good. Japan has no limit of term, China thought it might be a good idea, so they changed it. Japan can do the same thing, true. But right now, Japan's constitution is against striking capability. Even the constitution is changed, it is still against international laws to have the striking capability, due to historical reasons. Most importantly, to change this specific part of constituion is not for good, it is for disaster.

The timing is very questionable. The proposal is anti constitution and against international Laws. Even with the capability, strike whom ? for what ? at what cost ?