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Japan’s servility to US policy raises tensions in the region
With military tensions focued on the Korean peninsula little attention has been paid to the militarisation of Japan by right-wing premier Shinzo Abe. KENNY COYLE reports
A Japanese soldier stands guard by a missile battery
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At a time when East Asian military tensions have focused on the Korean peninsula, very little attention has been paid to the continuing militarisation of Japan by right-wing premier Shinzo Abe.
Japan is a key military player in north-east Asia both as a base for US military forces and for the much less well-known role played by its own Self-Defence Forces (SDF).
The SDF is in essence Japan’s military, although, according to Article 9 of the country’s constitution, which states that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained,” military forces are in fact illegal. Nonetheless, the SDF has around 310,00 personnel both regular and reserve and is equipped with thousands of aircraft, tanks, ships and artillery.
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