Let em build all the ships they want. We need friends at sea.
"Flawed" Shmawed. Pure, unadulterated hindsight bull%$#%$.
Were there alternatives? Sure. Were any of them "perfect"? No. Would any of their imperfections have led to those alternatives to be characterized, in time, as "flawed"? Definately, if, as in the case of the plan that was put in place, the people of Japan and their democratic leaders did not improve on the initial set up; which they ahd all the democratic freedom to do. The only flaw has been with Japanese leaders.
Why didn't Japanese leaders unseat the bureaucracy sooner? Because, it's the economy stupid, and until the financial breakdown that led to Koizuma's first administration, Japan's economy had kept the people happy with things just as they were.
Whenever reporters or historians use the term "flawed" to describe some past event or action, be careful. Usually they are viewing things completely in hindsight and with little context to the circumstances of the time or the consequences of alternative actions at the time. They are great at telling you why some historical action was "flawed", but cannot tell you how "flawed" any of the alternatives may have become.