>>655It's flawed in multiple ways.
He says that while Japan does spend a reasonably large amount on defence much of that is on maintenance and then goes on a tangent about earthquakes(which actually isn't related to the budget of the military as much as one would assume or certainly as much as he does). Most nations are in a similar situation, modern military equipment costs a lot to maintain and constantly requires it, I remember reading a few years ago about how at any given time less than half the German sub force and less than half the German heavy air transport were actually operational as they either were in the process of being repaired or needed to be repaired. All advanced militaries suffer this and in Japans case it is probably likely to be a bit worse simply because they place a much larger emphasis on their navy comparative to their army than many other nations do and ships are expensive and need constant maintenance, it's long been held that in order to have one aircraft carrier you actually need three, because only a third will actually be operational at a given time.
Likewise, the industry just fine too. He mentions that the companies make less as a percentage than others do from military contracts and yes of course a lack of foreign buyers contribute but so does the simple fact that that is the way Japan is, it's made up of huge corporations that don't specialise on defence but still have a hand in it. However, Japan still actually has a defence industry which is more than can be said for a great many other nations and due to the size of their economy and manufacturing base it can easily and rapidly expand in the event of a war.
The demographic crisis is not well gone into either. He mentions that Japan started ageing before China but fails to mention that China is actually ahead of them now and ageing faster than they are, and that is by Chinese statistics which have a great many problems, the real situation is very likely to be far worse for them. He says the Japanese army is small and too old with an average age of 35, too many chiefs and not enough Indians he says, that is exactly how you want a pre war army, it's how Prussia bounced back after their defeat by the French and how Germany did so after WW1. If you have a limit on the size of your army, whether that be due to budget or the demands of a victorious nation, it is
Post too long. Click here to view the full text.