My latest SNA Visible Minorities column 42: “Japan’s Remilitarization is a Bad Idea” (Jan 23, 2023), on why Japan is simply not the country to represent the world’s liberal democracies as a revived military power

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Hi Blog.  My latest SNA column on recent geopolitical developments and the bad habits they may revive.  Enjoy.  Debito Arudou, Ph.D.

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Visible Minorities 42: Japan’s Remilitarization is a Bad Idea
SHINGETSU NEWS AGENCY, JAN 23, 2023 by DEBITO ARUDOU in COLUMN
https://shingetsunewsagency.com/2023/01/23/visible-minorities-remilitarization-is-a-bad-idea/

SNA (Tokyo) — News item: Cheered on by the United States for its “bold leadership,” last month “Japan unveiled a dramatic revamping of its security strategy and defense policy, including a plan to acquire long-range weapons–a so-called counterstrike capability–that can target and hit enemy bases” (Japan Times, January 14).

Doubling its defense spending to 2% of GDP within five years, Japan will soon have the world’s third-largest military budget, behind only the United States and China.

Pushing Japan to remilitarize was never, and still is not, a good idea.

This is not just because an arms race in Asia is the last thing the region needs. But also because Japan, consistently unable to face up to its own history, is simply not the country to represent the world’s liberal democracies in Asia, especially as a military power.

Let’s start with that history…

Read the rest at
https://shingetsunewsagency.com/2023/01/23/visible-minorities-remilitarization-is-a-bad-idea/

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4 comments on “My latest SNA Visible Minorities column 42: “Japan’s Remilitarization is a Bad Idea” (Jan 23, 2023), on why Japan is simply not the country to represent the world’s liberal democracies as a revived military power

  • Jim Di Griz says:

    I’ve posted a lot on the changing US regional stance over the last couple of months, and it really does look like the priority for the US is defending Taiwan from a potential Chinese invasion.
    Elsewhere, security experts have explained that the basis for this fear, the ‘China will attempt an invasion before 2026’ comment that was made by a non-expert admiral to congress during his exit-interview hearing as an off-the-cuff comment has come to be seen as a statement of fact by U.S. lawmakers who are driving US military policy on that (incorrect) understanding.
    As a result of this, the recently leaked US war games show that Japan is not a safe-haven for US forces which is why air-power is moving to Australia.
    It seems that the reality of this is an embarrassment to Kishida that he is seeking to avoid discussion of as he is so unpopular, and the US is happy to sell him more equipment because they know they can’t do anything for Japan in the event of war over Taiwan.
    It’s all a waste of time, energy and money.
    But it gives Kishida a chance to talk big and use the taxpayers money to satisfy old men’s sense of aggrieved masculinity.

    Reply
  • Good article by the Mainichi about Kishida‘s speech. I don‘t think that China will invade Taiwan and I think that this whole „defence“ spending increase is just another LDP scheme to slowly get rid of Article 9.

    Another thing is that Kishida said that Japan is on the brink of collapsing due to the low birth rate. Yet he didn‘t even mention immigration of course, which is the only solution. But where are Abe‘s robots? Didn‘t Abe always claim that Japan doesn‘t need immigration becsuse it has robots? Why is Japan suddenly on the brink of collapse? Abe promised robots. It‘s really funny to watch all of this happening. Wages in Japan are already stagnating for the past 30 years, now we have super inflation and Kishida will raise the taxes for the defence budget. It‘s like the LDP is actively trying to destroy its citizens lol.

    I don‘t feel sorry for Japan anymore though. There have been enough warning signs since the bubble bursted, but Japan has ignored all of them. And the Japanese people keep voting LDP, so you reap what you sow I guess.

    https://mainichi.jp/english/articles/20230124/p2a/00m/0op/014000c

    Reply
    • David Markle says:

      As a person who resides in the Japanese depopulating hinterlands, I can speak from firsthand experience that Kishida’s fear mongering “societal collapse” rhetoric just prompts guffaws here. Ask anyone in my local about the closing of schools because of too few students, the shuttering of outdated businesses like clock repair shops, and photo studios, or the increase of empty and abandoned houses and you might get an occasional “zannen desu nee”, but actually most people feel it is a good thing. It should mean less waste and more efficient use of financial resources (I am skeptical that this will actually occur). At least that is what some folks believe. Sure, there are fewer and fewer people participating in the annual street and gutter cleaning, but is that necessarily a bad thing? There are more and more empty dwellings, but that tends to lower real prices which make it more affordable for people like me.

      I did have one experience though that gave me pause for thought. I got a letter from the local LP gas supplier saying that because the number of accounts he has dropped from 98 to 86, so he will have to raise the prices he charges. When I next saw him, I asked him why he didn’t try to increase his number of accounts and he looked at me like I was crazy. No chance of him sacrificing his lifestyle for my sake, I guess. I am looking to cook more with kerosine and wood and dropping the LP gas in the near future, so I guess he will have to raise his prices more on my account.

      Tokyo politicians who wring their hands at their dropping tax base should pay a visit to the hinterlands every now and then. They might get some insight into the real cause of their problems.

      Reply
      • “I asked him why he didn’t try to increase his number of accounts and he looked at me like I was crazy. No chance of him sacrificing his lifestyle for my sake,”
        – Ha, trying to get most Japanese to actually do active sales is almost taboo, as it would involve actually bothering strangers. I suppose he could do the old “giri building” technique of dropping by with pamphlets and showing his face and try to guilt trip people into signing up with him, if he has the time and energy to do so.

        Or probably, there just isnt the population to draw new customers from in the area he covers. Shoganai ne…

        Reply

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