Category: Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF)

Japan’s Defense: Amphibious Progress

Commentary A decade ago, the word “amphibious” was taboo in Japan. It was too “warlike,” conjuring up in some minds images of World War II and Japanese forces sailing overseas to attack foreign countries. So the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) had no amphibious capability—despite its obvious usefulness for an island nation defending its own far-flung…


Japan Gets Serious About China

Commentary China is a growing military challenge to its neighbors, one that is expanding in terms of size, capabilities, and quality. Nowhere has this growing insecurity regarding China been more self-evident than in Japan. Beijing is increasingly hardline and assertive in pushing its regional great-power objectives, largely because its improving military permits such an aggressive…