Japan has had all the pieces for a very long time - as an obvious capability to rapidly counter any threat from China if they had to go it alone. We (and France

Japan has had all the pieces for a very long time - as an obvious capability to rapidly counter any threat from China if they had to go it alone. We (and France I believe) shipped them reprocessed plutonium in the 80's for "breeder research." One of the Fukushima reactors held a lot of that store. https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/07/07/editorials/reducing-japans-plutonium-stock/#.W-7yDi-ZOAw https://www.japantimes.co.jp/opinion/2018/07/07/editorials/r... "Today, the plutonium stockpile has reached 47 tons, including 37 tons stored in Britain and France, which have been commissioned to reprocess spent fuel from Japan’s nuclear power plants."