Have you seen their new “destroyers”?
You mean their “Helicopter-Carrying Destroyers”?
Yup. Although the most recent class is just big enough to operate some F-35Bs. But not in a quantity large enough to take on the ChiComs.
But the Japanese are, with them (and the prior classes of smaller ships) signalling that they’re building up to a for-real carrier capability.
The QEs make sense because all the R&D and design work is done, no need to reinvent the wheel. And they’re sized right for what the Japanese need. They’re smaller than the Ford Class, but the Japanese need to project power regionally, not globally. The smaller decks (Spains Juan Carlos class, which the Aussies are buying, and the Italian Cavour are too small and limited.