Threat Erodes Japan’s Pacifism

After decades of constitutional restrictions on offensive forces, Japan has reopened a national debate about the military. As part of its surrender after World War II, Japan agreed to dismantle its armed forces and since then has largely relied on the United States for military support. In the past few months, however, nervous defense ministers have quietly begun to rebuild the military in response to North Korea’s threats of nuclear attack. Some have even discussed developing a nuclear arms program, although Japan's neighbors in Asia and many Japanese are uneasy about any such talk. – YaleGlobal