Japan's leaders understand the dangers they face from dictatorships across the ocean:
Japan's government approved plans yesterday to spend billions of dollars on a US-developed ballistic missile shield as part of a new approach to defense that analysts said reflects mounting wariness of North Korea and could antagonize China.The decision to authorize a program that will reportedly cost about $10 billion was made after Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's administration also launched Japan's first spy satellites and pushed through legislation strengthening the military's emergency powers.
..."This is not directed against any specific country," Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda told reporters. "As far as Japan is concerned, it is natural that we should prepare to meet any threat."
I take issue with the idea that such a development in ballistic countermeasures would "antagonize" anybody. As was made quite plainly obvious yesterday, strongmen respond very positively when their kind are demonstrably deprived of the ability to influence through the threat of force. Wonderful news - the Japanese are making a smart decision.