That whole perception of Japan not having a military is just a technicality.....their "Maritime Self-Defense Force" is easily the 3rd largest and most powerful

That whole perception of Japan not having a military is just a technicality.....their "Maritime Self-Defense Force" is easily the 3rd largest and most powerful navy in the Pacific (after the US and China). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Japan_Maritime_Self-Defense_Force_ships https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_active_Japan_Maritime_... The "Air Self-Defense Force" has more combat jets that the UK's Royal Air Force, and almost as many as the mighty Israeli Air Force. The Japanese are just postured exclusively for national defense and territorial integrity....which many people don't realize includes the ability of executing credible counter-offensives to liberate lost territory. I would argue that until the past ~5-10 years or so, the Chinese stood no chance in a big fight out here in the First Island Chain. The qualitative AND quantitative differences between the Chinese and Japanese hardware were just that large.