[LibertarianInExile]

Screw that. Stick with Australia as the Britain of the Far East--they're used to the rule of the law, and not feudalism or imperialism (in economic OR military terms). If "the Japan that can say No" is reinvigorated militarily, we have only ourselves to blame when they start tossing their weight around again.

[Cornpone]

Good point.

[Al Gator]

The Aussies do not have the people or the infrastructure to become a dominant power.

Japan does.

Japan needs to repeal Article 9 of the Macarthur constitution.

China is a monolith that the Japanese fear more than anything. (and we would be smart to fear China more than we do now, too)

We need a strong Japan; Japan needs a strong US.

That's just the way of the world right now. To think that the Japanese would embark on the destructive path that they took in the early 20th century, is to think that they are not intelligent people.

[Terpfen]

One question. Assuming Japan starts feeling like they can "start tossing their weight around again," just where would they toss that weight to? Korea? I doubt they'd trade Pyongyang and Seoul for Tokyo. China? Yeah, right. That leaves the Philippines and Australia, and all the Japanese have to do is look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki to see what they'd get for screwing around that far south again.