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Again, I have to refer to the information that my boyfriend gave me because I don't have much contact with Japan these days.

Apparently Japanese youth is not too happy with this "army project", this is why Abe Shinzo is not popular among them.

I personally don't think it is unfair for Japan not to have an army. I think that having an army is completely useless, and if every country wasn't allowed to have an army, maybe some relations would be easier. Please don't think about this with a naive point of view, I seriously believe that the UN should start doing the same thing they did with Japan with many other countries.

I guess it is sort of childish to say "the US have an army, we also want one! it's not fair!". I don't mean to offend anyone, please understand my point of view.

I'm sure that's a part of it, considering everything that's gone on between the U.S. and China lately. But don't forget there are other possible threats in the East also, and one of them is North Korea, which has nukes. Many people have predicted an eventual war sparking in the East sooner or later, and China, Japan, and Korea don't have especially amicable relations with each other. Something is going to happen eventually, and correct me if I'm wrong but I think both China (I'm sure about this one) and Korea have their own armies. If either of these nations ever attack, Japan will only have the SDF for protection. It is the U.S.'s job to take care of Japan in such a crisis since the U.S. enforced the army-ban in the first place, but if an attack should happen soon (God forbid!) it would hard for the U.S. to put in the best effort, considering we are already at war. *sigh*

I don't mean to be all cynical and pessimistic, though. I don't see a huge danger lurking just beyond the horizon or anything like that. I'm just saying the possiblity is there, and in today's world where there are many powerful countries with nuclear weapons it is best that each country can defend itself. Sad, though, because then we're all sitting around being suspicious of each other, like when the U.S. attacked Iraq due to Hussein's refusal to deny he possessed biological weapons. And just look where that took us. >.<

Lastly, @choco: I see what you're saying. But I'm not referring to a country not having an army as being unfair. I meant that one country forcing another not to have an army feels unfair to me. I understand that after WWII, the U.S. was all panicky that we could some day have a repeat event, and Japan had proven very hard to beat. Not allowing Japan to have an army seemed like a good way to prevent that at the time. But times have changed and that paranoia is no longer there.

Don't downplay the army. There are many honorable, respectable things about being a soldier. Not only do you learn discipline and gain the knowledge and ability to protect yourself and your loved ones, but you're a part of something that makes a real difference to your country. Soldiers don't just dodge bullets in war. They also do border patrol, take care of any skirmishes that arise within the nation that are beyond the police's ability to control, and play a key role in preserving our freedoms and national security. The army is full of very brave, very smart people who make the decision to join themselves. It is true that some join simply because they can't pay for college otherwise, but there are still plenty who join because of a sense of committment and duty to their country. And though it is certainly not a glamorous job, soldiers deserve much more recognition than they receive. Many go into fields like medicine, aviation or computer technology that help them continue to protect others even when their years of service are up. Maybe I'm biased because I have soldier friends and soldier-wannabe friends, but I really don't understand why people dislike the army. War is Bad. The army is not.