San Francisco
Now that I'm back my friends are asking
me about Japan. The social milieu is the same as the U.S today and
in the 1950s... macaroni and cheese. Nesting with comfort food with a
home media center. (Aerial photo of S.F. Bay)
The military story is quite different. Thanks to an aggressive China and her puppet state (N. Korea) Japan is on a straight-line path to becoming a modern military power. Japan and Taiwan are already allies. They will become mighty military allies in less than a decade.
Everyone I talked to believed that Japan is developing a highly capable military force based on aggressively selective recruitment, good pay and world class training. (A big change from as little as five years ago.)
A year ago the Chinese sent a nuclear
sub into Japanese waters and the Japanese Coast Guard aggressively
chased the sub away using explosives. Japan has already placed 55
launch phase ballistic missile interceptors in the Japan Sea. She is
planning a rapid development and deployment of a final phase
interceptor.
For both Japan and Israel a final phase missile interceptor is feasible. Both countries have all their population in very small limited geographic areas. Eighty percent of the Israeli population is in three cities within a 100 mile total radius. Eighty percent of the Japanese population is in four metropolitan areas, each one within a 50 mile radius.
I wouldn't be surprised if Japan develops its comprehensive missile shield before it joins the nuclear weapons club. That would forestall a preemptive strike.