How Powerful Is Japan? | Most Powerful Nations on Earth #6

How powerful is Japan, really? It is the only major nation whose constitution renounces war forever, a country that officially has no army, navy or air force. Judged by its paperwork, Japan should be a military lightweight. Judged by what floats, flies and launches from its bases, it is anything else.


Start with money and technology. Japan's economy is worth roughly four trillion dollars, among the four or five largest on Earth. Tokyo is a top global financial centre, the yen is one of the world's most trusted currencies, and Japanese industry leads the planet in robotics and precision machinery, supplies critical semiconductor equipment, and builds the world's best-selling cars.


Then there is the shield. The Maritime Self-Defense Force is one of the strongest navies in the world - Aegis destroyers able to intercept ballistic missiles, exceptionally quiet submarines, and Izumo-class carriers being adapted for F-35B stealth jets. Around 247,000 personnel serve across the Self-Defense Forces.


And now a sword Japan never had. The Cabinet has approved a record defence budget plan of more than nine trillion yen, the fourth year of a build-up toward two percent of GDP, including over 970 billion yen for stand-off missiles such as the upgraded Type-12, with a range of about 1,000 kilometres. Japan's 2022 security strategy names China its greatest strategic challenge.


Alliances multiply the effect. Roughly 54,000 US troops are stationed in Japan - more than in any other country - including a carrier strike group at Yokosuka. Japan sits in the G7 and the Quad, and is co-developing a next-generation fighter with Britain and Italy.


The limits are real: Article 9 still renounces war, Japan keeps no nuclear weapons, it imports nearly all its energy, and its ageing, shrinking population is its deepest long-term weakness. But as Episode #6 of our Nation Power series shows, Japan is not becoming a military power - quietly, it already is one.


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