China and Japan may not have fought militarily since the 1940s, but they've never stopped battling over the past. In the latest scuffle, protests directed at Japan's revisionist textbooks are roiling Beijing and other Chinese cities.
Views toward Japan are especially negative – 69% have an unfavorable opinion of Japan, and a significant number of Chinese (38%) consider Japan an enemy.
From the late 20th century and onwards, the United States and Japan have had firm and active political, economic and military relationships. US government officials generally consider Japan to be one of its closest allies and partners.
The United States pledged to defend Japan, which adopted a pacifist constitution, in exchange for maintaining a large military presence in the country. There are more than eighty U.S. military facilities in Japan. More U.S. service members are permanently stationed in Japan than in any other foreign country.
In April this year, the four countries participated in NATO's foreign ministerial meeting and they agreed to continue supporting Ukraine and to step up cooperation given the "global implications" of Russia's war on Ukraine. Australia, Japan and South Korea are all U.S. security allies.
Article 5 commits the United States to defend Japan if it is attacked by a third party. Article 6 explicitly grants the United States the right to base troops on Japanese soil, subject to a detailed "Administrative Agreement" negotiated separately.
Bilateral Relations:
At the same time, the relationship with China is one of Japan's most important bilateral relationships, and the two countries have close economic relations, as well as people-to-people and cultural exchanges.
In order to avoid such a high casualty rate, Truman decided–over the moral reservations of Secretary of War Henry Stimson, General Dwight Eisenhower and a number of the Manhattan Project scientists–to use the atomic bomb in the hopes of bringing the war to a quick end.
China currently has a much larger and stronger military than Japan. It has an active military of over 2.3 million people and a drilling reserve of another 2.3 million. All those troops are equipped with approximately 3,000 aircraft, 14,000 armored vehicles and tanks, and 714 ships.
Today, Japan is ranked fifth globally in overall military power after the United States, Russia, China and India, and its defense budget ranked sixth in the 2021 ranking of 140 countries by the Global Firepower rating site.
If Britain is America's closest ally, Canada is America's nearest. Sharing a peaceful, open border stretching 5,525 miles (including the Canada-Alaska border), the United States and Canada are deeply integrated on matters ranging from trade and culture, to defense and intelligence.
The ties between the US and Japan go far beyond both the cultural bonds and the shared cultural values that have emerged between us. The United States is an invaluable and irreplaceable partner to Japan and, indeed, our closest ally.
The governments of the two countries have taken efforts to increase relations, including Japanese investment in Russia, military cooperation, and organizing a year of cultural exchange between Russia and Japan for 2018.
Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered a nuclear attack. Twice. Japan acquiring nuclear weapons is unthinkable.
As the name “North Atlantic Treaty Organization” suggests, NATO is essentially a treaty organization for nations in the North Atlantic region. Located on the rim of the Pacific, Japan is not eligible to join NATO because of its geographical location.
Today, Japan is ranked fifth globally in overall military power after the United States, Russia, China and India, and its defense budget ranked sixth in the 2021 ranking of 140 countries by the Global Firepower rating site.
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution prohibits Japan from establishing a military or solving international conflicts through violence.
If a nation plans to attack Japan, the attacker must be prepared to confront not only the defense capability of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), but also the overwhelming military strength of the United States, due to the U.S. obligation to defend Japan in the event of an armed attack.
OVERALL RISK : LOW
Generally, Japan is a very safe country to travel to, probably one of the safest. Still, never let your guard down, and be wary of pickpockets and scammers as you would in any other country.
The Constitution was imposed by the occupying United States in the post-World War II period. Despite this, Japan maintains the Japan Self-Defense Forces, a de facto defensive army with only strictly offensive weapons like ballistic missiles and nuclear weapons prohibited.
Greece. In 1964, due to the Cyprus crisis, Greece withdrew military units from NATO forces in the Southern Mediterranean, over threats of invasion of Cyprus by fellow NATO member Turkey. Later in 1974 due to the invasion of Cyprus by Turkish forces, Greece withdrew from NATO military command.