Gen Kanai

Merrill Lynch's Jesper Koll, "Japan is Back, For Real This Time"

Scott146, two good ideas but let me play devil's advocate.

Japan can't afford to build a big mililary because, 1) they don't have the people to do so, and 2) it is a politically sensitive move to do so. If you follow Japan's news, you know that Koizumi is trying to get changes made to the constitution to allow for a real military. Even if that is voted in, it will take generations for Japanese citizens to be comfortable with the idea of a military like Japan had previously. For over 50 years, Japan has been without a real military. Also, note the fact that Japan's Asian neighbors are not at all comfortable with Japan's moves towards a real military. That's another perspective that cannot be ignored. Japan's profile in Asia and it's history means that they cannot do anything without impacting others in this region. Finally, more Japanese in a professional military means less people to work. Japan may not be able to afford that.

As to your comments re: Japan's space program, I think that the govt. has been working to raise the profile of Japan's space program including the launches of satellites in the past few years, and then the recently reported high-altitude tests of prototypes in the Australian Outback. I agree it's an important growth area.