Matthew Finkel
Japan’s long-dormant defense industry is finally waking up. Constrained by a constitution imposed by the Allied military occupation after World War II, Japan has for decades adhered to a pacifist security policy. It technically maintains no military (although its Self-Defense Forces are more formidable than many foreign militaries), and until last month, the government had forbidden the export of lethal weaponry. Cultural attitudes have reinforced Japan’s pacifism: Japanese citizens have historically derided hawkish politicians and defense firms as “merchants of death.”
These constraints on defense production have taken their toll.
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