ABSTRACT
This chapter presents some questions about Japan’s defense policy and considers some broad questions concerning that policy, given present conditions and circumstances. It explains about Japanese defense, with particular reference to its changing aspects. The first question concerns the policy that comes from the post-war Japanese constitution, which forbids the state the right of belligerence and does not recognize the right to excess “self- defense.” The term “self-defense” implies that the constitution prohibits Japan from belonging to a “collective security” system and limits it to an “individual security” system. The second question about Japan’s defense is whether there is any change in the policy prohibiting nuclear weapons. Japan’s role in the security of the sea-lanes in Northeast Asia hinges upon the Japanese attitude toward its own defense policy. Japan is clearly a sea power whose very survival depends upon the security of several sea-lanes–to North America, to Southeast Asia, and to the Middle East.
