Farewell to pacifism: Japan is rearming | DW Documentary

Farewell to pacifism: Japan is rearming | DW Documentary

Wars and saber rattling have
increased around the world since Russia invaded Ukraine. The invasion has even
pushed a bastion of world peace to brink of militarization. Worried about the
threat from China, Japan recently unveiled an
ambitious new defense strategy. Security in the Asia-Pacific
region has deteriorated at an unprecedented rate. We are considering all options to
strengthen our defense capabilities, including the possibility
of striking enemy bases. Suddenly Japan’s security
policy has changed dramatically from a pacifist nation to now, a nation that is developing
counterstrike capabilities by purchasing Tomahawk missiles. Peace relies on a balance of
power. Russia attacked Ukraine. It’s a mistake to think
that we won’t be attacked because we don’t have
any army or military bases. That era is over. Japan wants to increase
defense spending by 60% by 2027, the third-largest military
budget, behind the US and China. This, even though Japan is
the only country in the world with a ‘no war’ clause
in its constitution. Is this the end of Japan’s
traditional pacifism? We have suffered so much
during war that we renounced it. Why are we reneging
on this principle? I was six years old
on August 6th, 1945. I was on my way to school.
I saw two planes in the sky. I was watching them
and was suddenly struck by a gigantic flash of light. I instinctively covered
my face with my arms, which is why I was burned on the
back of my head, arms and neck. I only suffered burns because I was more
than two kilometers away from the epicenter of
the atomic bomb attack. Not even bones of victims were
found at the site of the explosion. All my school friends
died. I was the only survivor. Hiroshima was devastated
by the first atomic bomb to be used as a weapon of war – marking a shocking climax
to the war in the Pacific which had been no less
horrifying than the one that had raged through Europe. In the first half of
the 20th century, Japan invaded vast swathes
of the Asia-Pacific region. Emperor Hirohito – seen here
inspecting his troops – approved the country’s
attack on Pearl Harbor, the American military base. But Japan dispatched
kamikaze pilots when the US began to regain the upper hand. Some three million
Japanese died in the war – 200,000 as victims
of the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima
and Nagasaki. Japan was left with
a deep hatred of war, symbolized by a famous
memorial for peace. Paper cranes are
believed to bring good luck. It’s said that cranes
live 1,000 years. Sadako Sasaki was a
little girl at my school, four years younger than me. She was exposed to
radiation when she was two and she fell ill at twelve. In the hospital, they told
her that she would recover if she folded 1000 paper cranes. She put her heart
and soul into it. But her wish didn’t come
true and she didn’t survive. Sadako Sasaki’s origami
cranes remain a symbol of peace. A few days after the bombs were
dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Emperor Hirohito
went on the radio to announce Japan’s surrender. The Japanese had never
heard the voice of their emperor. People cried in their villages as
they listened to the shocking news. They understood immediately
that the militarization of Japan had been a mistake. The Japanese despised
anything military following the Second World War. The anti-militarism of the vast
majority of the Japanese people fit the agenda of the
victorious powers. General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme commander
for the Allied Powers, the American-led
occupying forces, set out to demilitarize
and rebuild Japan. It is my honest hope and
indeed the hope of all mankind that from this solemn occasion, a better world shall emerge out of
the blood and carnage of the past. On behalf of the men and
women of the Yokota airbase: it is my privilege
to welcome you to the Japanese
American friendship festival 2023. The US occupied Japan
for seven years after the war and its military still
plays a key role felt today. This annual festival allows
residents to meet and talk to the 55,000-plus marines
still stationed in Japan. Some even don a superhero
costume for the occasion. Americans are driven by
this concept, Manifest Destiny. God has given America a
special role to play in the world. And America is sort of
on a civilizing mission to spread its values. The Americans wanted
Japan to be a showcase of the superiority of
the American system. But at the grassroots level, Japanese people are also
embracing the opportunities of fate, and they become
enthusiastic supporters of many of the American reforms,
democratization, demilitarization. This new Japan,
born after the war, was based on a constitution drafted by the Americans
in just one week. The Japanese government
had no choice but to adopt it. Japanese governmental officials tried to protect the
existence of the emperor because the emperor is just the
symbol of Japanese style democracy. Instead of the protecting
of existence of Emperor, they abandoned all of
the sovereignty of the time, including Constitution. Despite his
involvement in the war, Emperor Hirohito
kept his throne, but his role became
purely symbolic. The new democracy gave women
the right to vote, a free press, and trade unions. The 1946 constitution
also included Article 9, which renounced
Japan’s right to wage war. «Aspiring sincerely to
an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people
forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the
nation and the threat or use of force as a means of settling
international disputes.» If you read the
text very carefully, it’s clear that it’s a
pacifist constitution, which renounces any
use of military assets. It goes further than
the German constitution. The demilitarization of Japan was based on
unequivocal US protection. The country was
unable to wage war and is effectively
subordinate to the US, which has promised to defend
Japan in the event of an attack. The Americans are
like Japan’s bodyguards. That’s why we accept the
presence of the military base. The planes are loud though… Japanese planes aren’t
allowed to fly over this zone. That’s the price we pay
for the country’s security. Even after the end
of the US occupation, and Japan’s
independence in 1952, the country remained a
pillar of the US world order. Thanks to the security treaty
between the two countries, the US can maintain military
bases on Japanese territory. The country currently hosts 130. Japan even served as
a rear base for the US during its wars in Korea,
Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan despite its pacifist ideology. Japan has often been
seen as an ‘aircraft carrier’ for the US in the region. This means that
the US had a country where it could station a
huge number of troops, in fact the largest
American contingent abroad. And this enables US
troops to intervene, in Japan or elsewhere, in the
region whenever necessary. Here in Asia a narrow
sea separate Japan and the free world
from Soviet communism. As the Cold War unfolded between the US and
the Soviet Union in 1947, Japan firmly sided
with the West. US army documentaries
depicted Japan as a bulwark against the perceived
communist threat in Asia. When the Korean
War broke out in 1950, the Soviet Union and
China supported North Korea, and the US, South Korea. The United States, with the victory of the Chinese
communists in the Civil War in 1949, quickly has second
thoughts about the war renouncing Article
nine of the Constitution because they want
Japan to rearm. They want Japan to help
them fight the war in Korea. The Japanese prime minister
at the time, Yoshida Shigeru, responded by basically
saying, ‘my hands are tied. It’s in the Constitution’. So Article Nine became
sort of like, you know, garlic for Dracula’s warding
off America, say, well, no, this is what you’ve given us. We want to concentrate our scarce
resources on economic recovery. Japan made a
concession to the US by establishing a
Self-Defense Force in 1954. A first compromise of
its pacifist constitution. But the country remained
largely true to its anti-war stance. Japan shied away
from power politics and focused instead
on economic progress. By the late 1960s, the country that had
been devastated by war had become the world’s
second largest economy. Germany and Japan benefitted twice
from their close ties with the US. Firstly, they didn’t need to
spend much on a military. Secondly, they were able to win back
the trust of neighboring countries. And both countries
managed this successfully. If you look at how
Germany and Japan developed during the Cold War, they both became the biggest
economic powers in their regions. Japan became a voice of peace, spearheading the fight
against nuclear proliferation. The country adopted the
Three Non-Nuclear Principles, ruling out the
production, possession, or introduction of
nuclear weapons. Hiroshima became the
headquarters of resistance to atomic weapons. When prime minister Fumio
Kishida invited G7 leaders to the city in 2023, he sent a strong
signal to Russia, which was conducting
tactical nuclear weapons drills on the Ukrainian border. Speaking from this city, forever
scarred by the atomic bomb, our generation must
continue to raise awareness and move tirelessly towards a
future free of nuclear weapons. But this principled position
belies some contradictory behavior. Despite pressure from the
survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan has always refused to sign the international Treaty on the
Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. The Treaty gave
us incredible hope. I was so happy when it
was ratified by the UN in 2017 and its initiators were awarded the Nobel Peace
Prize for their efforts. But Japan didn’t sign it! Despite being the only country
where the atom bomb has been used. Japan faces so-called
a nuclear dilemma. That is, you know, while Japan
is this thing to pursue that goal of world without nuclear
weapons because of its experience, is tragic experiences in
Hiroshima and Nagasaki given the very serious security
environment in this region. Japan also has to rely on the US extended nuclear
deterrence in its security. Japan believes in
nuclear disarmament but wants the US to launch
nuclear weapons on its behalf, if necessary. And now voices calling for Japan to develop its own nuclear
weapons program are growing louder. The country certainly has
the technical knowledge. Japan began using civil
nuclear energy in the 1960s as part of its rapid
economic growth. The propaganda at the time
said that the atomic energy that had caused
so much suffering would now be used to bring
economic development to Japan. It was dubbed ‘dream energy’. Japan built dozens
of nuclear reactors, which supply almost a third
of the country’s electricity. But the industry has also generated
a problematic waste product: plutonium. Japan is one of the
world’s main producers and has created 47 tonnes. Most of it was reprocessed
in France and the UK but 9 tonnes remain
on Japanese soil – enough to manufacture
hundreds of nuclear warheads. It’s as if Japan already
has an atomic bomb. It’s a hidden nuclear weapon. An atomic bomb
made of plutonium, like the one
dropped on Nagasaki, could be built at any moment. The then-Japanese prime minister ordered a confidential
investigation on the development
of the Atomic bomb after China’s first
successful tests in 1964. The conclusion was that
Japan could only lose. If Japan were to
develop the bomb, it would immediately
be in the same position as Iran or North Korea. Japan cannot afford
to be to excluded by the international community. Japan must rule out
developing nuclear weapons. High-ranking
nationalist politicians continue to point out that Japan has the technical capacity
to produce atomic weapons – an attempt, perhaps, to intimidate
nuclear powers in the region. And as a reminder to the US
about its defense promises. So I am saying China,
even North Korea and Russia and the United States, we have
possibility we have already capability of the modern style
nuclear weapons. So do not threat; do not
trade on me, I am saying. Such statements reveal the gulf
between conservative governments that hope to make
Japan a nuclear power, and the public, who categorically
decry nuclear weapons. The pacifism of the
overwhelming majority of Japanese has slowed the country’s
military ambitions for decades. But the end of the Cold
War marked a turning point. The Berlin Wall fell in
1989 and, the following year, the Soviet Union collapsed. The fight against communism, the justification for the military
alliance between the US and Japan, crumbled as well. Japan then also sunk into a
serious economic depression, putting an end to
decades of prosperity. Japan underwent an
identity crisis in the 1990s, when the property and
speculation bubble burst. Trust in the strength of the
country’s economy was shaken. And with the end
of the Cold War, Japan no longer knew
exactly which side it was on. There was an
upsurge in nationalism during the crisis of
the 1990s in Japan. Some politicians
became more outspoken, saying it was time for Japan to
turn the page on the post-war period and that the country
had apologized enough. The conservatives had
been in power since the 1950s and believed Japan should
reclaim its status in the world. They considered it humiliating
that its pacifist constitution prohibited from sending troops
to the first Gulf War in 1991. A year later, parliament
authorized Japan’s participation in UN peace-keeping operations
in Cambodia, Mozambique and East Timor, further
compromising its pacifist stance. Beginning in 2010, Shinzo Abe – key figure
of the nationalist right – set about turning Japan
into a ‘normal’ country – one capable of not
just defending itself, but also entitled to send
troops on overseas deployments. How is Japan stand,
how is Japanese behave, it should be beautiful. That is the Prime Minister Abe,
to be a strong and beautiful, Japan. People may not
respect any person who is who is not responsible
about protection of himself. Urged on by the US,
the then Prime Minister established a
Ministry of Defense and authorized Japan
to intervene militarily alongside the United States. But fierce public opposition prevented
him from revising the constitution. The Japanese government pointed to rising
tensions in the region to legitimize its
growing militarization. Our country has found itself in the
most complex and tense situation since the end of the
Second World War. The Self Defense
Force’s promotional videos highlight the aggression
of the country’s neighbors. It was a complete reversal of
what happened during the Cold War, where Germany
was on the front line. The situation got considerably
worse for Japan after the Cold War. North Korea began its nuclear
program in the 1990s and, for the first time, Japan was
confronted with a situation in which it felt
genuinely threatened. North Korea’s repeated tests
of short-range ballistic missiles ratcheted up the tension, while six nuclear
tests made the country led by the Kim dynasty
a nuclear power. We are facing three
dictatorships very close to us. One is China, one is
North Korea, one is Russia. And all of them as their
have their nuclear weapons. One powerful neighbor
in particular worried Japan. The People’s Republic
of China overtook Japan as the world’s second
largest economy in 2010. A sign of China’s
growing ambitions. President Xi Jinping has claimed
most of the East China Sea, off the south-west
coast of Japan, including a part of Japan’s
exclusive economic zone. The conflict between
the two countries centers around the Senkaku Islands. These uninhabited islands
are administered by Japan, but claimed by China, which
calls them the Diaoyu Islands. Whoever owns and
operates from those islands will control a lot of the
destiny of that region. Nationalist politician and
fisherman Hitoshi Nakama regularly sets sail from
a neighboring island to defend Japanese sovereignty
over the Senkaku Islands. I want to show that
ordinary citizens can take charge of
their country’s defense. It’s not a crime to fish
in your own territory. People say that I’m fanning
the flames of the dispute. But it’s China that’s creating the
problems with its territorial claim. The dispute worsened in 2010
when a Chinese fishing boat rammed a Japanese
coastguard patrol. Turn around! They’re ramming us! Reporting a collision
with a foreign vessel. The Japanese
government purchased three of the disputed islands
from their private owner two years later in 2012. China responded with
massive anti-Japan protests. Chinese coastguard ships have since
regularly entered Japanese waters. They say they’re coastguard, but they’re actually under the
command of the Chinese army. They’ve been trying to see just how close they can
get to the islands for years. Nakama records the
scenes to show the world what the Chinese
vessels are up to. Two or three boats always
track each other in the area. That’s a Chinese
military vessel on the left, the Japanese
coastguard i then middle. The Japanese boat constantly
pushes the Chinese boat back. The situation is
tense, obviously. Nakama hoists
Japan’s rising sun flag once he reaches the Senkaku
Islands – a small act of defiance. Japan is currently
keeping a low profile to avoid any
escalation with China. Japanese residents are not
allowed to land on the islands, and only fishermen
are allowed near them. It has become more difficult for
Japan to stand up against China. But the coastguards have
been doing a fantastic job. And interestingly China
is also tries its best to avoid sending military ships
and military aircraft to that area. We’re in a sort of gray zone. It’s not a war but
this isn’t peace either. Something serious situation but not
so bad that the military is involved. I’m very critical of the
Japanese government for putting the weight
of World War Three on the shoulders of the
Japanese Coast Guard that have to
operate in that area. They can’t do anything to
really protect their territory. Japan’s coast guard
may be on the ‘frontline’ but Japanese soldiers are on
standby on a neighboring island. Japan set up its latest
military base on Ishigaki, one of the Okinawa islands, a
group of 160 idyllic-looking islands. The archipelago is located off
the coasts of China and Taiwan and is the headquarters
for the majority of US troops stationed in the country. Japan has been building up
its own bases here since 2016. Setsuko Yamazato
regularly protests against this military presence. They’re essentially planning
on making around forty islands into military zones. Very little criticism is heard
about these military bases, and very few alternatives
have been proposed. This is quiet
preparation for war. Pacificists on the
islands may be rare, but they’re making
themselves heard. They fear anti-missile
systems on the island bases will make them a target,
rather than protect them. We’re calling on young
people and parents to join us for the
future of the island. We don’t want
to kill or be killed. The islands are being
sacrificed to protect urban Japan! The military bases are
scattered across Okinawa, forming an initial barrier
to deter Chinese forces. Okinawa is part of what is called
‘the first island chain’ around China, a string of islands that
runs from southern Japan, through Okinawa, Taiwan,
the Philippines, and Indonesia – all allies of the United States. Positional warfare is quietly
being waged in this border zone between China and the West. I talk to Chinese colleagues too. Why don’t we button up properly
so that China using island chain. China may try to deny
U.S. and Japanese interests to the closer area of China. It’s the same thing for us. We deny. We don’t have to
win that decisively. But we we we have to
avoid being defeated. Activists think the new
Japanese army base was created to both deter a Chinese attack
and appease its American ally. As long as Japan
remains an American ally, the US will be the brains
and Japan, its willing stooge. It’s inevitable. And once the military
base is completed, the Americans will come and
congratulate us and say ‘well done.’ How has pacifist Japan, which is supposed to be
safely under US protection, found itself on the
frontline against China? The Japanese government
has played a key role but the United States has also
pushed for its re-militarization. The US has accused the Japanese of exploiting their position
under its defense umbrella to bolster economic expansion. President Trump made
the position clear in 2019 in front of a stunned
Japanese audience. If somebody attacks
Japan, we go after them and we are in a battle
full force, in effect. We are locked in a battle and
committed to fight for Japan. If somebody should
attack the United States, they don’t have to do that. That’s unfair. That’s the kind
of deals we made. The unconditional
protection of the United States – the basis of Japan’s pacifism – has begun to waver. Japan has always worried
about whether the US really would be willing to
intervene in the event of an attack. The Americans have
skillfully used this concern to demand that Japan
boost its military spending. Japan pays 75% of the cost
of American bases on their soil in exchange for protection – far more than what any
other American ally pays. But it’s also increasing
its own military spending to reduce what the US
calls its defense burden. Revisionist powers,
such as China and Russia, are trying to change
the international system. The US is no longer seen
as the major superpower that it used to be, neither
militarily or politically. The US is now far more
dependent than in the past on the participation
and support of its allies to help preserve the liberal,
democratic world order. Confrontation with China is expected to be the major
conflict of the 21st century. And the US wants
Japan’s full support. The debate is increasingly
reminiscent of the Cold War. We are the stand-in
force for the US Army on the knife edge of freedom. And across that first island
chain of freedom-loving allies and partners between South
Korea, Japan, the Philippines, and Taiwan itself, is
three authoritarian regimes. The US is now hoping
to encircle China. The Cold War, initiated by the
US after the Second World War, has never really ended. The Cold war with the Soviet
Union was just a first stage. The US is now engaged in a
new Cold War against China. It wants to turn
Japan into our enemy. An officially pacifist country
is gradually being transformed into a more militarized one. Prime Minister Fumio Kishida unveiled a dramatic new national
defense strategy in December 2022. Let me be frank. Our defense is insufficient. In order to drastically
strengthen it, we’re increasing the defense
budget to 43,000 billion yen over the next five years. Up to 270 billion euros of military
expenditure within the next five years –Japan’s defense budget has risen
from just over one to 2% of GDP – the same expected
of NATO countries. Japan’s purely
defensive strategy has become suspect after the
purchase of offensive weapons, notably 400 US-made
Tomahawk cruise missiles. Japan’s about face on defense
has been a long time coming, but the Russian invasion
of Ukraine swept away what remained of the
country’s pacifist principles Russia’s behavior in Ukraine
makes us it makes us to think about the reality of the world. And we are not living in heaven. The big game changer,
it’s not, you know, North Korea’s nuclear
missile program, that’s a factor. It’s not China’s
military modernization. That is a factor, too. But those two factors have
been around for the last 20 years. The big new development
is Putin underscored the importance of
preparing for the unexpected. Putin created a window
of opportunity to, you know, arouse the anxieties and fears of
the Japanese people thinking, uh-oh. The war in Ukraine has
had an impact on the public’s previously staunch
pacifist stance. For the first time since
the Second World War, polls show a
majority of Japanese in favor of strengthening the
country’s military defenses. The Japanese are suddenly
more concerned about China – and worry about it
attempting to annex Taiwan, by force if necessary. East Asia could well
be the next Ukraine. The Japanese who I work
with each day consider Japan is like Poland; the Philippines is like Romania; China is like Russia;
Taiwan is Ukraine. Beijing makes no secret
of the fact it is building military capacity
against Taiwan. China fired five missiles into
Japan’s exclusive economic zone in a show of force
in August 2022. A warning to its neighbors
to stay out of the conflict. The Japanese island of Yonaguni
is really very close to Taiwan. Whether it likes it or not, Japan will be involved pretty
quickly in a conflict over Taiwan if one breaks out. And since Japan is a hub
for American military action, it could well become the
target of Chinese strikes. Japan has now,
for the first time, described China as an
unprecedented strategic challenge to its peace and security. Japan has also strengthened
ties with US allies in the region: South Korea, the Philippines,
Thailand and Australia. And it even reconciled
with its enemy, South Korea, a former Japanese colony. The Japanese Prime Minister was received with open
arms in Seoul in 2023 – unthinkable only a
few months earlier. Many people in Korea feel
that Japan has never apologized for its past aggressions. Koreans have a very emotional
relationship with Japan, dating back to the time when the
peninsula was a Japanese colony. But since relations
have improved, the Koreans see
things more rationally. They understand that
cooperation between South Korea, the US and Japan is important, especially since Ukraine
has led to a new Cold War. Japan is using its
increased defense spending to present itself as a
key ally of the US in Asia. This goes hand in hand
with a more combative image for the Japanese
self-defense forces. The public was invited to the
Yokosuka naval base on Tokyo Bay to admire its submarines,
anti-missile systems and warships. Tens of thousands of visitors
flocked to the open house, eager for a glimpse of
Japan’s weapons arsenal. The cannon can turn in all
directions. That’s the radar. Japan has converted two
warships into aircraft carriers, enabling it to hit targets
beyond its borders. The Self Defense Force is acting
more and more like a real army – even if its title
says differently. Whenever there
are natural disasters, you see the
Self-Defense Force on TV. They help and they save people. But their focus is now
more national defense. And I think they will do
good work in that area, too. We’re counting on them. People who may or may
look at us as a good the savior rather than the good fighters. But actually we are we
are really good fighters too. The forces looked for new recruits
at the Yokosuko spring festival – an important aspect of
the young volunteers’ work. I’m happy because I’m
in great physical shape. I’ve got more muscle
and more strength. That’s true. Our work
is exciting and varied. And we can carry a gun. Are you from Tzushi? There’s an event there called
‘My job is maintaining peace’ Sounds great – what a honor. I’m counting on you! Young Japanese people
aren’t especially interested in military careers – despite the Self Defense
Force’s positive image. Recent figures show that they’re only at half the
necessary recruitment quota, which is extremely low. It doesn’t bode well for the
practical and material conditions needed for the
military transformation the Japanese government wants. Increasing the military budget
will not be enough by itself to change public opinion. Japan’s falling birth rate is also affecting the
Self-Defense Forces’ numbers. And, crucially, fears of war
are also discouraging people from signing up. The Japanese army
is not officially an army and can’t engage in combat. The trauma and the
high number of victims during the Second World War also means no
one wants it to fight. We saw this during the Iraq war. Japanese soldiers carried
out mine-sweeping operations. They were a long
way from the frontline. But the limits of what they can
do are constantly being pushed. No Japanese self-defense force
soldier has ever died in combat. Japan has cultivated an image
as a peaceful nation for 80 years, and appears to be
incapable of waging war. But today Japan
is at a crossroads: should it be part of an allied bloc – or continue to pursue
diplomatic regional cooperation as it has throughout
its decades of pacifism? Public and private experts
fear that confrontation with China could be a threat
to Japan’s security and could damage its economy. Japan is very circumspect because China is its
leading economic partner. The future prosperity of Japan depends
on tapping the potential of China. Maybe secretly they are
more worried about China, but they don’t want to be publicly
out there standing up to China because they see that
China isn’t going anywhere. It’s the rising power. America looks like
a power in decline. So why tie yourself to
the sinking American ship when China seems to be rising? Hiroshima knows only
too well the price of conflict. The survivors of the atom bomb are
hoping for appeasement with China and note that diplomacy also
means cooperating with nations that don’t share
the same values. The most worrying
aspect of all this is that we’re creating
an artificial enemy. I’ve always felt that the
West divides the world into enemies and allies. But in Asia we take a
less black and white view. And it’s within that ambiguity
that peace can thrive. Every year, on the anniversary
of the Hiroshima bomb, children still write messages
of peace on colorful lanterns, But as the voices
of the last survivors and the memories
of the war fade, the light cast by the
lanterns is starting to flicker.

In 1945, under US occupation, the Japanese constitution was created. Toshiko Tanaka, then six years old, had survived the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. She hoped that this “peace constitution” would prevent wars in the future. But now, Japan is arming itself again.

After 1945, Japan was the only country in the world to commit itself to renouncing war in its constitution. But in the face of increasing dangers, the island nation has now announced a rearmament program. By the end of this decade, Japan could become the third strongest military power in the world. The pacifism born of the horrors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki has given way to fear of aggressive neighbors like China, Russia and North Korea.

Under conservative governments and in view of the increasing withdrawal of the once-protective USA, the Japanese armed forces have acquired weapons systems. These include amphibious vehicles, US F-35 fighter jets and two aircraft carriers. There is enough plutonium from civilian use in the country to produce up to a thousand nuclear warheads. Missile systems are also available.
Asia is the key to the future. This documentary shows a new side of Japan and provides insight into the military changes that are taking place there – far from the war in Ukraine. Toshiko Tanaka, one of the last hibakusha, as the survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings are called, fears war once more.

#documentary #dwdocumentary #dwdocs #japan
______

DW Documentary gives you knowledge beyond the headlines. Watch top documentaries from German broadcasters and international production companies. Meet intriguing people, travel to distant lands, get a look behind the complexities of daily life and build a deeper understanding of current affairs and global events. Subscribe and explore the world around you with DW Documentary.

Subscribe to: ‬
⮞ DW Documentary (English): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocumentary
⮞ DW Documental (Spanish): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocumental
⮞ DW Documentary وثائقية دي دبليو (Arabic): https://www.youtube.com/dwdocarabia
⮞ DW Documentary हिन्दी (Hindi): https://www.youtube.com/dwdochindi
⮞ DW Doku (German): https://www.youtube.com/dwdoku

For more visit: http://www.dw.com/en/tv/docfilm/s-3610
Follow DW Documentary on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dwdocumentary/
Follow DW Documental on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/dwdocumental

We kindly ask viewers to read and stick to the DW netiquette policy on our channel: https://p.dw.com/p/MF1G