Japan's Military

At the end of WWII, Japan was forced to surrender and give up it's military. The U.S. has had a military base there ever since and has provided a military shield for this country. But now with all the wars and rumors of war breaking out all over the world....even Japan is realizing that they better come up with a way to defend itself and not necessarily rely 100% on the U.S.

According to the article, they currently would have little defense against North Korea;

There are doubts among missile experts about whether Japan's anti-missile network -- a combination of sea-to-air Aegis missiles and land-to-air Patriot rockets -- can protect the country, in the event of a Nodong missile attack.
"They are not up to the job," said Theodore Postol, an expert on missile systems and a professor of science, technology and national security policy at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Read article here; http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/03/27/AR2009032700501.html?hpid=topnews