ABSTRACT
Japan had made a break with the militarist past in the 1947 constitution, and American expectations about an expanded defense role for the country appeared to contradict the spirit of postwar reforms. The US policy of detente and pursuit of SALT with the USSR, followed by US withdrawal from Vietnam in 1975, were welcomed by most Japanese. Economically, Japan’s status as an economic superpower is more fragile than often realized. Japan must trade or die. The absence or paucity of most vital resources in a sophisticated economy makes the nation highly vulnerable to vagaries of the world economy and to interdiction in time of war. Japanese have accepted peace as pleasant tranquility - seeing only its bright and happy side after the war. The constitution “imposed” on Japan by the occupation troops cannot be valid forever. The postwar disarmament was purely in American self-interest, and this policy was reserved in October 1948.
