Since its defeat in World War II, the nation of Japan has been a peaceful nation and a great ally of the United States of America. Their post-WWII constitution prevents them from having other than a strictly defensive military. The rogue behavior of North Korea’s leader, Kim Jong-un, has changed the thinking of the leaders of the nation of the Rising Sun. Until now they have depended on the United States military machine. See where they are headed in this article.

As Written By Anna Fifield for The Washington Post at IN Homeland Security:

TOKYO — As the threat from North Korea’s missiles grows, so the calls in Japan for a stronger military response are getting louder.

An influential group of politicians is publicly arguing for technically pacifist Japan to acquire the ability to strike North Korea instead of having to rely on the United States for its defense.

“Japan can’t just wait until it’s destroyed,” Hiroshi Imazu, the head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s security committee and a proponent of the idea, said in an interview. “It’s legally possible for Japan to strike an enemy base that’s launching a missile at us, but we don’t have the equipment or the capability.”

Gen Nakatani, defense minister until last year and a member of the committee, agrees. “I believe that we should consider having the capacity to strike,” he told The Washington Post.

Their public pronouncements have not come out by accident, analysts say. Such senior members of the powerful ruling party would not raise the issue unless it was being promoted at the highest levels.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe publicly supports consideration of the idea. “I’d like to encourage the party to have this discussion and am keeping an eye on how it’s going,” he said in the Diet on Friday when asked whether he was in favor of acquiring the capability to strike.

Under the American-written constitution imposed in the wake of its World War II defeat, Japan may defend itself if it comes under attack but is not allowed to go on the offensive.

Imazu said that the current arrangement made Japan a “peculiar”……..

CONTINUE TO READ JAPAN ARTICLE HERE:  As North Korea Fires Missiles, Some In Japan Want The Ability To Launch Strikes