Of course I did not mean Japan arming itself without US consent. Somehow I have a hard time to believe that the US tax payers will be willing to continue to protect Japan without Japan paying a larger share of the cost of defending itself, especially with ballooning global responsibilities elsewhere and budget deficit. What I was addressing was that a certain segment of Japanese have become overly pacifist like the Germans, easily guilt-tripped by their asian neighbors over WWII even as the latter arm themselves to the teeth.