Abe vows to boost military as Japan sheds pacifist stance

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has pledged to bolster Japan's military capabilities and amend the country's pacifist constitution in his first policy speech since a landslide election victory.

"We will strengthen Japanese defense power, including missile defense capabilities, in order to protect the people's lives and peace," he said Friday, outlining his priorities in a policy speech to parliament.

Japan's military spending has increased steadily since Abe took office in 2012, with the government saying it plans to buy more American weapons. 

During his visit last week in Tokyo, President Donald Trump urged Abe to buy many more US arms, raising questions if he was more interested in the business side of it.

US Ambassador to Japan William Haggerty said the US is trying to make more advanced weapons technology available to Japan more efficiently and the US military more effective in the region.

"Our overarching goal is to increase Japan's capability and interoperability. Our overarching goal is on security and defense," Haggerty said. "And [Japan's] goal is to make certain that more advanced technology is available to Japan."

Japan's well-equipped and well-trained armed forces are technically known as the “Self-Defense Forces,” and do not have the right to an aggressive strike.

Nationalists like Abe say the constitution is a humiliating relic imposed by US occupiers after Japan’s defeat in World War II. He wants to change the wording of the document so that Japan can have a full-fledged military.

However, many Japanese feel a strong attachment to the constitution’s peaceful ideals and changing it sits close to the bottom of their to-do list.

In his speech on Friday, the premier said he would push ahead with changing the pacifist constitution but keep the clause that prevents Japan from waging an offensive war.

Abe's ruling coalition won in a landslide in last month's snap election, securing a two-thirds supermajority in both houses of parliament, which makes it easy for Abe's policies to be approved.

In his speech to Parliament, Abe promised concrete action to respond to what he called "escalating provocations" by North Korea.

The premier described North Korea's sixth nuclear test earlier this year and two missile launches that flew over Japan as a national crisis.

Any tentative move towards revamping the pacifist constitution could trigger alarm bells in China and the Koreas given Japan's history of military aggression in the region.

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