Posted on 05/29/2022 6:16:37 PM PDT by RomanSoldier19
Weeks after he became Japan’s prime minister last year, Fumio Kishida pulled on a dark green bomber jacket, the hinomaru flag emblazoned on his sleeve, and climbed into a tank.
Official photos show him displaying an awkward smile for his audience at Camp Asaka – the men and women of the the country’s Self-Defence Forces – an indication, perhaps, that postwar Japanese leaders and military hardware have not always been easy bedfellows.
The image belied Kishida’s political grounding in a dovish wing of his Liberal Democratic party (LDP) and his background as an MP representing a constituency in Hiroshima who eschewed the more aggressive language on security of others in his party.
Yet it is under Kishida, and not his hawkish predecessor, Shinzo Abe, that Japan is undergoing a dramatic shift in its strictly defensive postwar posture in which the country could double spending on its military and edge closer to acquiring a “first-strike” capability.
Eight months into his term of office, Kishida faces unprecedented foreign policy challenges. Russia’s war in Ukraine has set alarm bells ringing in the Asia Pacific region about the potential for a copycat Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing regards as a renegade province that will one day be reunited with the motherland.
(Excerpt) Read more at theguardian.com ...
Japan is still a wealthy country with a significant manufacturing sector. If they put their minds to it, they could field a formidable military.
They better
Today, you embak on MOST DANGEROUS MISSION!!"
Sure, get the fella wearing the collie costume and the other one who married a cartoon and is raising awareness for acceptance.
Cheech and Chong album?
They learned their lesson didn’t they…about manufacturing. We however seem to have forgotten.
Oh, gee... just having a flashback to 1973 for some reason. I'm OK... honest, I am.
They have the 3rd best navy in the world.
At least.
Maybe better than that.
Kirring yourself and all aboard!
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