On December 7, 2023, Tulsi Gabbard, currently President-elect Donald Trump‘s pick as director of national intelligence, wrote on X:
As we remember Japan’s aggression in the Pacific, we need to ask ourselves this question: is the remilitarization of Japan, which is presently underway, truly a good idea?
We need to be careful that shortsighted, self-serving leaders do not end up bringing us again face-to-face with a remilitarized Japan.
Former Congresswoman Gabbard appears to be talking about some other Japan.
The New York Times reporter Richard Halloran once told me that the Japanese were the worst he had come across in terms of being able to “explain themselves.” That has not changed. So I will try.
Who’s afraid of Japan?
First, regarding “…the remilitarization of Japan, which is presently underway..” Huh? Japan remilitarized a long time ago. At least 50 years ago.
The Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) is a quarter million strong, well-equipped, and professional. Yet, it is a threat to nobody – never has been and has never wanted to be. Nor has any Japanese leader or politician suggested it should be.
Also, even if it wanted to throw its weight around, it could not do much. Japan’s military is about half the size needed to conduct all necessary missions just to defend Japan – much less attack anybody.
The JSDF missed recruitment targets by 50% in 2023. It routinely misses them by 20%. And it is not going to be getting much bigger as the population shrinks. Moreover, there is zero political will for expansion.
But what about Japan’s new Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade? If it could find the ships (no sure thing) and did not get sunk on the way, it could perhaps land 700 “Marines” on the Chinese coast.
Nobody would notice. Put 700 people in a decent-sized baseball stadium and it would seem empty. So much for Japan threatening its neighbors.
At best, it might build a defense strong enough to give the Chinese, North Koreans and Russians pause before the attack. But on its own, Japan has poor prospects against China’s People’s Liberation Army – even with so-called “counter-strike” capability – or long-range missiles.
Tokyo has no decent alternative besides tying up with the United States and the US military. It has every incentive to make the best of what it has defense-wise and be as good an ally as possible.
This requires a more capable JSDF, one that can conduct joint operations and maintain adequate war stocks. It also needs far better training for real combat than it has today along with integration with US forces.
And these are very much in America’s interest.
Track record of decency
Now, look at Japan’s post-war track record. And remember that the war ended 80 years ago. Nearly four generations have been born since then.
Since 1945, Japan has been a humane, consensual democracy and a staunch supporter of the US and the West. Tokyo is a huge international aid donor. Immense Japanese business and investment in the Indo-Pacific and worldwide are welcomed and sought after.
The world could use more countries like Japan.
Japan has apologized and tried to atone for World War II. Yes, South Korea and China say they are resentful, though the resentment is often stoked for political gain.
However, Japan is well regarded in most of Asia. The war is a distant memory if even that. Well regarded? Let’s go down the list.
Taiwan? Japan is well-liked. How about the Philippines? The same.
Vietnam and Indonesia? Both nations give Japan credit for removing the colonial yoke. Thailand? Excellent relations. Malaysia? Same thing. Bangladesh and Burma? Good relations.
Australia? Willing to let bygones be bygones – despite the Imperial Japanese Army‘s horrific treatment of Australian prisoners of war. Pacific island nations? Japan has strong ties and is respected and considered a friend.
And the big one, India. Ties are excellent, and in some respects, the India-Japan relationship is deeper than the Japan-US relationship, at least at the elite-to-elite level. India still appreciates Japan for lending support to Indian nationalists seeking independence from Great Britain.
More allies like Japan
Am I concerned that Tulsi Gabbard is not up to speed on Japan? Not really. She is young enough to learn. A two-page briefing paper or ten minutes with somebody who knows the topic (and has an open mind) would set her straight.
And she is not the first person to make this mistake about Japan. Marine Lieutenant General Hank Stackpole’s “cork in the bottle” comment (that the American forces in Japan were what kept Japan from going on the rampage) was wrong, even when he said it in 1990.
Until not so long ago, senior officers at USINOPACOM resisted the idea of an amphibious capable Japan. “Who knows what these Japanese will do?” Yes, that 700-man force that would conquer Asia.
One still runs into people in the US government and military who do not realize today’s Japanese have as much in common with 1930’s Japanese as the Danes do with the Vikings who carved their initials in the Hagia Sophia.
Japan is a threat to nobody. It is a bastion of decent, consensual government and individual freedom in Northeast Asia and has global influence. The US should want more such allies – and a stronger Japan Self-Defense Force as well.
If you want to worry about “remilitarization,” just look across the East China Sea at the People’s Republic of China.
Grant Newsham, a retired US Marine colonel, is the author of “When China Attacks: A Warning to America.”
This article first appeared on JAPAN Forward and is republished with kind permission. Read the original here.
The Treaty of San Francisco, which defined the relationships of East Asia in 1953 didn’t include China and other countries because they refused to accept that the Japanese would not be required to make any reparations.
Its no surprise that Western ‘journalists’ (read propagandists) are trained and paid to perpetuate the narrative that the West is good and all others are evil. Even Hollywood scripts are in all likelihood vetted by subsidiaries of Langley to ensure that the US and its allies are depicted most positively vis-a-vis the diabolical Russian, German or Oriental villain. One just needs objectivity to filter out fiction from fact.
I don’t know why Asiatimes publishes this guy. He writes total rubbish. Japan has never apologized for it’s atrocities in China, Korea, Philippines, Singapore and Malaysia. They just pretend nothing happened, and hope everything gets swept under the rug.
At most, Japan builds a hospital as a goodwill gesture or a Cenotaph to commemorate the war dead, but they never acknowledge their misdeeds, much less apologize for them.
That is why so many people in China and the Koreas still dislike Japan even today.
“misdeeds”? As in crimes against humanity?
Japan is fading away demographically and South Korea is fading even faster. According to Data, both won’t exist at the end of the 21st century.
Nonetheless, they said they would defend Taiwan militarily. So much for a Pacific military.
The author reference to the very valid grievances of South Korea & China are glossed over as being simply political. This is plainly ridiculous as well as pretending the rest of SE asia has forgotten the barbaric WW2 barbaric occupation. On top of that wealthy Japan has not paid compensation to its victims anything matching that of West Germany or sincerely & openly admitted fault and culpability for their aggression in Asia & the USA
Tokyo has no decent alternative besides tying up with the United States and the US military. It has every incentive to make the best of what it has defense-wise and be as good an ally as possible.
Japan Could go Ukraine, pawn pawn
{Japan is a threat to nobody. It is a bastion of decent, consensual government and individual freedom in Northeast Asia and has global influence. The US should want more such allies – and a stronger Japan Self-Defense Force as well.}
The white imperialists always see the poor non-whites as “nobody”. That is why they completely ignore the unspeakable sufferings of the Chinese and other East Asians during the jap rampage.
The FACTS are that the US facilitated and enabled Japan’s aggression against a China in decline, and protected and nurtured Japan after WWII. The US not only protected the Japanese state. It also gave protection to the known war criminals including the so-called “doctors” of Unit 731.
US policy after WWII has been consistent. It punishes NOT the guilty, which is Japan, but the weak, which are Japan’s former victims. It maintained “peace” in Asia NOT by dispensing justice but used its military power to perpetuate the INJUSTICE that was the cause of the war in the first place. Why should anyone be surprised that there are those who do NOT like such an arrangement??? The victims of Japan had no choice for the past 50-60 years but to swallow that injustice, because they were militarily too weak to challenge that setup. Now, however, these countries are no longer so weak and want justice!
Was it not Imperial Japan who regarded themselves the Japanese as the “superior” race? and even now considering the country is the most homogeneous of any Western nation and still has a strong reputation of being very xenophobic specially towards “people of colour”
This is one of the dumbest articles I have ever read. Complete garbage. Oh boy, these Western authors are a real dime a dozen these days. Maybe I can start by telling junior here, that Japan is NOT sovereign. Nobody occupied with over 50,000 sub-zero IQ American grunts is free. Secondly, Tulsi Gabbard is Hawaiian. She remembers Japanese aggression. Imperial Japan was a fascist state and today the US is the continuation of Nazi Germany. This author is just another washed up imperial cretin who is paid to promote trash. The US does not have allies. It only has slaves.
So Mr know all which Western country now would you consider sovereign in all senses? Remember since WW3 both Japan & South Korea have repeatedly negotiated treaties with USA for their own protection. Taiwan can only dream of that potential protection! Regarding the military of Japan it has like Germany’s been steadily dumbed down and as suggested neither can adequately defend themselves without US . Admittedly both have finally “seen the light” rather late and are beginning to rearm but the malaise within the populations are a shadow of their past prowess