To arms; Japan.(Japan's security policy)

From: The Economist (US) | Date: July 26, 2003 | Copyright information

Japan is starting to take its security responsibilities seriously. High time too

JAPAN'S constitution forbids it to maintain an army: but it has 240,000 men under arms. They are not soldiers, you understand, but members of the land, sea and air "self-defence forces". Japan does not have tanks--those would sound too much like the sort of thing an army might have. But it does have "speciality vehicles", which look remarkably like, well, tanks. It does not have bombers, for much the same reason: bombers are primarily offensive rather than defensive weapons. But it does have ...

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