Betting on a rearmed Japan

Forced into a humiliating surrender at the close of World War II after two of its cities were nuked, Japan vowed never again to engage in armed conflict. This pacifist principle is enshrined in the country’s Constitution, Article 9 of which states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes.”

For decades the Japanese government saw no reason to revise this basic tenet, and its military was content with its role as a self-defense force. After all, even without an armed might, Japan had been unchallenged as Asia’s economic superpower.