>To be fair, Japan was forced into pacifism in their US enforced constitution after WWII. The U.S. guaranteed Japan their security. It gave them those years to focus on their economy and served them well. In exchange, the U.S. (and other countries) agreed to defend Japan. Their security is guaranteed. While technically a civilian force, Japan has one of the world's biggest military budgets at 4.81 trillion yen (41.6 billion dollars) a year. They launched their first Defense Ministry this year. Soon Japan will rewrite the US-imposed 1947 constitution that declared Japan a pacifist country. Taro stated recently that Japan's pacifist constitution allows for the country to defend itself and does not forbid possession of an atomic bomb for defense purposes.
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I heard about this rewrite on NPR not long ago. My first thought was that they don't want to be caught unprotected against a country that they raped and pillaged prior to and during WWII. A country that has itself been spending on heavily on 'defense.' This from GlobalSecurity.org: "In 2005, it was announced that China's military budget will rise 12.6 percent, to 247.7 billion yuan ($29.9 billion). China has announced double-digit increases in military spending nearly every year for more than a decade." That's the official quote from China. Other estimates say that China had $65B in military expenditures for 2004 alone, making it second in the world. The US of course is 1st with just under half of all world military expenditures at $466B.

Just think what we could do if we just spent half that amount on adding to the quality of life: national health care, education, more liberal arts courses, etc...