ABSTRACT
A more important difference between Japan and West Germany is the degree of the threat of direct invasion. Like the countries of Western Europe, Japan has a common interest in maintaining free institutions, unmolested sea traffic, the general status quo of the world, and peace. Since Japan's Prime Minister Yashuhiro Makasone defined Japan as "a member of the Western alliance" and expressed his desire in early 1982 in Washington to make Japan "a huge aircraft carrier," both expectations and concerns have been spreading at home and abroad that Japan is going to play a more active military role in global politics. In compliance with the United States' request to strengthen Japan's defense capabilities, the defense budget was increased by 6.2 percent in FY 1983, forming a "salient" in Japan's thrifty budgetary structure. Japan's biggest vulnerability lies in its heavy economic reliance upon sea traffic.
