A (slightly) more muscular Japan

摘要

Japan's Self-Defence Forces (sdf) have long lived a cloistered J life. The country that in 1945 developed an allergy to warfare ties itself in knots trying to reassure everybody that the sdf is not a military force, and that its soldiers are actually "special public servants". So a recent music video showing a khaki-clad AKB48, Japan's doe-eyed pop sensation, clambering in and out of troop carriers, singing things like "Show us your guts", must have seemed a recruiting sergeant's dream. Yoshihiko Noda, the prime minister (and son of an sdf man), lacks the girls' sex appeal. But he is trying to make the country's national-security strategy a bit more rugged too.