Japan must “strengthen its defense capabilities,” Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has told the BBC, emphasizing the need to revisit the pacifist posture that has defined the country since World War Two. For the first time in about 50 years, Tokyo can now sell or transfer defense equipment and lethal weapons to the 17 countries with which it has signed formal agreements, including the US and the UK. Koizumi explained in a sit-down interview at his office in Tokyo: “This visi

Japan’s prime minister Abe Shinzo called an election last November, with the campaign slogan Kono michi shika nai (There is no other...