Japan's Missile Defence

This book examines a fundamental contradiction at the heart of Japan’s security strategy. In recent years, Japan has, with US support, developed a missile defence system, which the Japanese argue is entirely defensive, constructed in part to defend Japan against the threat of missile-based nuclear attack from North Korea. At the same time Japan has been working to forge closer, more friendly relations with neighbouring states, many of which were victims of Japanese aggression before and during the Second World War and which continue to be wary of Japan. As this book shows, Japan’s missile defence policy works against the policy of more friendly relations with neighbouring states, in that neighbouring states are not completed convinced that the missile defence system is for defensive purposes only, and regard the system as, potentially, a threat to themselves. The book explores the issues comprehensively, showing how the missile defence system has been developed, how it is viewed by Japan’s neighbours, and how Japan is struggling to deal with the contradiction at the heart of its security strategy.