Japan has the second largest economy in the world, how come they don't spend heavily on military?
110365
Japan is just beginning to rachet up militarily and with the blessing of the US.  We see Japan as a balance of power in the far east, mainlyn because of the antagonistic attitude of North Korea and the heavy investment that China is making, militarily.  China and Korea have a real attitude regarding Japan, mainly because of atrocities incurred by Japan on these two countries,in the days leading up to WWII and after.  China and Korea both want Japan to admit its wrong doings against these two countries and Japan is being very conservative on what it is and is not prepared to acknowledge regarding the events that happened over sixty years ago. This impasse has put a great strain on the relationship of both Koreas and China regarding Japan. In the meantime, we see some strategic advantage and improved balance of power having a strong Japan as our ally.  A strong China makes everyone in the far east rather uneasy.  China along with that fruit cake in North Korea as their ally, makes it even worse.
682494
Because Japan was able to cooperate with European nations and thus avoid the destruction that affected most of southern Asia and Oceania, Japan was able to begin building a large industrial and military infrastructure, then with help from European mentors Japan started to push out and take responsibilities in Asia. Japan was able to seize Korea and Formosa (Taiwan) first in wars with China. Then, during the Russo-Japanese War, Japan was given economic power and right to defend Manchuria, which they later annexed as Manchukwo. During the First World War, Japan declared on the side of the Western Allies, and at the Versailles Treaty in 1919 Japan was given the League of Nations mandate over the former island posessions of Germany in the Pacific Ocean (Carolinas, Marshalls, Bismark Islands, etc). In 1937, after quarrels with China over Manchuria, Japan began the actual invasion of China, which would bog their military down for almost ten years. When France was conquered by Germany in 1940, Japan reached a protective agreement with the French authorities in Indochina, then actually seized the entire province in 1941 which led to America placing economic sanctions. In the opening move of Japan's part in the Second World War, Japan seized Hong Kong, Malaya and Singapore, Indonesia, northern New Guinea, the Philippines, Guam and Wake. In early 1942, Japan took the Solomon Islands and Guadalcanal, and made an effort to seize the remaining southern portion of New Guinea to isolate Australia and New Zealand, but were turned back at the aircarft carrier fight in the Battle of the Coral Sea. The Japanese army was advancing through Burma and into the frontier of India, but were stopped at Imphal. With these setbacks, Japan felt it had to knock the American navy out of the war right away, thus the overextended plan for the ambush at Midway, which of course turned out to be an ambush against the Japanese navy. From that point on, Japan was not able to mount offensive operations until late 1944 in the South China Sea with disastrous results in what was called the Leyte Gulf Turkey Shoot.
416197
Yes, the UK is generally considered to have the second strongest defence forces in the West. Their navy is much stronger and has been for centuries, their army was the second biggest contributor to both Gulf Wars and their air force is superior. The UK ranks 3rd on muilitary expenditure behind the US and China, 2nd on military projection capability behind the US and 2nd on military science adnd technology.
61384
Because they are cheap.\nWe were struggling a recession past 10 years in Japan.
1017106
Japan's history is more deeply rooted in Buddhism and less U.S. occupancy.
238654
Top 10 Counting total forces\n1.  USA\n2.  China\n3.  UK\n4.  South Korea\n5.  Russia (Provided someone can fund it)\n6.  North Korea (Provided China doesn't shut their oil off again)\n7.  Isreal\n8.  India (Fairly good army and navy)\n9.  Japan (2nd largest defense budget in the world)\n10. Egypt\n\nA better question might be "Top Powers with the ability to project that power"  Some of the above are regional powers only.
296820
The US is by far, number one in almost every way. Number two is where the real debate is. You could argue China because of shear numbers if nothing else. Russia still has a formidible defense, although their technology is way behind. Britain could make a good arguement for being number two, especially since their navy is top notch. Israel probably has the second best air force (and in some ways their air force may be the most technologically advanced).
1067204
it's not only education that's expensive, everything in Japan is expensive (accomodation, food, daily neccessities, etc...)\nI'm not sure how much, but be prepared...
942157
Yeah Japan and S. Korea are it. Other than that, the other countries are 2nd class.
123442
Japan's new constitution stated that it would never again fight another war. Japan disbanded it's military, and this has remained te same even till the present day. Japan has only the Defense Forces, which are police and coastguardsmen.\n\nIt took decades for Japan to recover economically and physically from the bombings of WWII. Tokyo, Nagasaki, Hiroshima, and other cities were bombed almost to the point of extinction.\n\nUS military bases were also put in Japan to keep peace in the area, but it's also because we had leverage on them and few other countries in East Asia.\n\nHope I helped,\n\nth3wise1
1181733
How do you "have" technology?  Where do you store it? Is it knowledge? \n  If you are speaking of consumer goods, technology as a percentage of new items compared to old, Japan probably would score higher given their lack of space to hold and suffer the inefficiencies of old items.\n  If you are speaking of the source of technology, it would be people. Since you are not specifying technology, we are including electronics, hardware, software, metalurgy, pharmaceutical, aerospace......   Give the level of RELEVANT education for all areas of science and engineering, the US is still the best, despite the flaws of its education system and waning graduates in the fields. \n  Besides, look at numbers of patents internationally.  The US is by far number 1, with Japan a distant number 2.  Patents are the incentives to innovate technology. Read the current patents and you will see that even the assigning of patents is seldom done outr of the US. China is near zero, meaning there is little technological improvement.  They may have technology, but they are not developing it.
1116647
I don't neccessarily know about strongest, but there are actively building their military at an incredible rate. What is most alarming is that they seem to only be focusing on improving their offensive potential. China has no real security threats in Asia to defend against, so peolple should ask themselves, why an offensive build up?
483948
Japan is a developed country it also belongs to the IMF or Group of 7 or which the United States is a member. One obvious country that is not a member is Russia, who is following the Group of 7 around like a lap dog trying to get in. \n\nJapan does not have a Army nor does it have nuclear power to make war, yet it is economically stronger than most countries of the world.\n\nThe Japanese have a very good thriving economy, with a healthy export of cars and techno products. The rank up there is the top 4 or 5 countries of the world as far as economies goes.\n\nSome countries that you might count as developing are India and China, they are on the edge of becoming  a developed country, both have nuclear power
982125
Japan is the wealthiest, with a GDP of about $4.6 trillion, or $36,000 per person.  The poorest is East Timor, with a GDP of only $332 million.  (Those figures aren't exact, because there is a lot of variability in how the numbers are calculated).  The poorest on a per-capita basis is Myanmar, at $219/person.
142522
Well first off we have the best equipment in the entire world bar none. Whatever that other guys was talking about German having better tanks is crap. I know for a fact that other countries have extremely trained militaries as well. I was stationed in South Korea for a year, and they were very professional and well trained. They had a strong NCO corps which is fundamental for having a  good military. They are extremly disciplined as well. The thing that makes ours the best is the fact that we have an all-volunteer military. Conscription might get you the bodies you need, but you lower your standards.\n\nMost of the 3rd-world countries are not as disciplined which can lead to fractures inside the military. They also do not train as long, and compared to our military, are significantly less advanced as ours.\n\nTo Joseph I never considered India a 3rd world country and It is the largest democracy in the world. I also make no reference to their equipment other than it is not as advanced as ours, which is a fact. I can prove it, but I do not want to go into that. I know the capabilities of the Indian army. I know also that we sell a lot of equipment to them as well. And yes they do have a larger army compared to ours, but by no measure is it as trained and equiped as ours. I'm not saying that they are in the stone age though. I know several people who haved trained with them, and they got some good training value from it. You took my words farther than they were suppose to go. In the end there is no military on the face of the earth that would win toe to toe with the US. It's just not possible. Sorry.\n\nAlso size of the military does not mean much when they cannot fight due to lack of logistical support or strong NCO corps. I'm just saying most militaries place their priorities in the officer corps, but they are not the ones who make everything go.
513651
Japan´s population has very low population growth, and has been going on for 20-25 years. \n\nChina is not overcrowded. Have you seen the amount of land they have? But yes, population grew at very high rates, so since the 1970, goverment has been teaching about birth control and forcing just 1 child per family.
894331
No To teh guy who answered above me .... The ranking you just gave out id outdated ... Usa, Europe, Russia, Australia, Japan, Canada .. are first world ....\n\nSecond world ..... UAE(dubai), Brazil, CHina, New Zealand, Argentina, South africa,Meico, Egypt, Israel, and few other middleeastern countries) are considered 2nd world countried...\n\nThird are mostly african .... and few others would be .. Vietrnam,.. etc and teh others.... It is a term to describe who is more economically advanced... and who is more independed..... African countries lack funds... live in poverty and they do not have any soft of technology to help them through... They are less industralised.. and fall far far behind teh rest of teh world ( 1rst and 2nd world countries) .. I hope i helped you.... ANd there is an argument wheather to say put mieastern countries as 2nd or below second and just call them "Oil Wealthy Countries" but that has changed after they became more developed... I.E dubai.(UAE) ..>> is becoming the hottest market on this planet...so advanced.. ..Maybe The New Born hongKong... Anyhow .. thast why they call aftrcan countried 3rd world >>> electricity is scarcely available there...