Defence is considered an extremely sensitive and highly complex matter in Japan. The government still has large constraints in defence activities. However, the North Korean situation and the wars in the Middle East and Afghanistan call for Japan to play a more positive role. In view of the international changes surrounding Japan, the government is now revising the policy guideline for defence strategy. There is an external link in the shape of the US-Japan security treaty signed after Word War II in 1951 at San Francisco on the eve of the signing of the Japanese peace treaty. The national check and balance system, in the shape of the Diet, virtually controls and democratises Japan's defence policy to make it more responsible to the nation's sensitivities and global concerns.
展开▼
