Japan's Surprisingly Large Military

Angry Planet

Matthew Gault

War, Politics, Conflict, Government, History, News

4.3 • 882 Ratings

🗓️ 10 May 2019

⏱️ 39 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On paper, Japan is no longer a military power. Article 9 of the Japanese constitution states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes” and that “land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained.” Japan is, on paper, to rely on its allies for military defense and, since World War II, American military bases have dotted its islands. But attitudes and policies are changing and as the South China sea looks more and more like a flashpoint, some are wondering if Japan will amend its constitution and re-arm.

Here to help us figure that out is Kimberly Westenhiser is a journalist, photographer and artist. She writes for the Eatonville Dispatch and her work has appeared at The Seattle Globalist, Foreign Policy, War Is Boring and Playboy.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Love this podcast support this show through the a cast supporter feature
0:05.1	It's up to you how much you give and there's no regular commitment. Just click the link in the show description to support now
0:17.6	Hey there war college listeners, I just wanted to drop in here at the top to add some context to the conversation. This is Matthew, by the way.
0:19.5	There's been some changes in Japan since we recorded this episode. On May 1st, Japan crowned a new emperor.
0:25.5	The new emperor is described as being temperate and has repeatedly said he would
0:30.8	uphold Japan's current constitution.
0:33.6	So please keep that in mind as the conversation you're about to hear progresses.
0:38.6	They just want to make sure that they their citizens are protected and also that
0:48.7	China isn't going around know, bullying smaller nations.
0:53.0	You're listening to war college, a weekly podcast that brings you the stories from behind the
1:06.5	front lines. Here are your hosts. Hello, welcome to War College. I'm Matthew Gault. And I'm Derek Cannon. On paper, Japan is no longer a military power. Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution states that,
1:32.8	quote, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation
1:37.0	and the threat or use of forces means of settling international disputes in that land, sea, and air forces as well as other war potential will never be maintained.
1:46.0	Japan is, on paper, to rely on its allies for military defense and since World War II, American military bases have dotted islands. But attitudes and policies are changing. And as the
1:58.4	South China Sea looks more and more like a flashpoint, some are wondering if Japan will amend its constitution and
2:04.5	re-arm. Here to help us figure that out is Kimberly Westenheiser. She's a journalist
2:09.3	photographer and artist who's written for the Etonville Dispatch and her work has also appeared at the Seattle
2:14.8	Globalist Foreign Policy, Wars Boring, and Playboy. Kim, thank you so much for joining us.
2:21.6	Happy to be here.
2:23.0	All right, so I guess the first question is very basic.
2:27.4	Is Japan a military power and what are its military capabilities?
2:32.4	Kind of.
	...

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