Over the last ten years, Japan has shed its pacifist identity. After promising, post–World War II, to maintain only a tiny military, Tokyo is now building up truly capable armed forces and a sizable defense industrial base. In December 2018, for example, the country announced plans to modify its Izumo-class destroyers so they could operate F-35B fighters—effectively giving Japan its first aircraft carrier since 1945—and to buy 147 F-35 fighter jets. In 2023, it allowed its companies to start