[x]

If given a chance, the Japanese can build high quality military hardware that can destroy anything the Chinese throw at them.

They would have to turn their whole culture around first.

And is the technological gap really that great, considering that China has ten times the population, an army ten times as big and more martial spirit than modern Japan?

[roadcat]

And is the technological gap really that great, considering that China has ten times the population, an army ten times as big and more martial spirit than modern Japan?

Quality, not quantity. Consider Japan's Self Defense Forces. Far more powerful and modern than China's navy. Plus Japan is considered to be a nuclear power, with the ability to field several hundred nukes (even though they aren't supposed to have that capability).