I found this quite telling

[Sirius]

"Never let a crisis go to waste" _Rahm Emanuel

North Korea May Help Abe's Goal to Revise Japan's Constitution
By John Brinsley - October 10, 2006 03:50 EDT

Oct. 10 (Bloomberg) -- North Korea's claim it carried out a nuclear weapon test may give newly elected Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe the mandate he wants to revise the country's pacifist constitution and legalize the right to self defense.

Abe returned yesterday from a two-day visit to China and South Korea, where he improved ties with Japan's two biggest Asian trading partners. All three countries condemned the announcement by Kim Jong Il's government it had detonated a nuclear device.

"Kim Jong Il couldn't have handed Abe a better rationale for constitutional revision and a stronger Japanese defense policy,'' said Ellis Krauss, professor of Japanese politics at University of California, San Diego.

Abe favors changing Japan's anti-war constitution to legitimize the nation's Self-Defense Forces. After North Korea fired seven missiles into the Sea of Japan in July, he said Japan needs to study whether pre-emptive strikes would be legal under the constitution. The government plans to boost spending on its ballistic missile defenses.

Divided public opinion on changing the constitution "will at least temporarily be forgotten in the movement toward protecting Japan from a dangerous nuclear country with missile capacity,'' Krauss said.

Japan's constitution, written by U.S. occupation forces after World War II, renounces war as a sovereign right and says military forces "will never be maintained.'' Courts have ruled the nation can keep troops for self-defense purposes, over the objections of pacifist groups. The country has about 240,000 military personnel.

Out of Date

The document no longer reflects the reality of a nuclear age riven by terrorism, Abe argued in his maiden policy speech to parliament on Sept. 29, saying what was needed is "a constitution that befits a new era.''

Japan must study "individual, specific cases to identify what kind of case falls under the exercise of the right of collective self-defense, which is forbidden under the constitution,'' he said.

The country's security alliance with the U.S. would founder should American troops stationed in Japan be asked to respond to an attack from overseas without support from its host, Abe said in a Sept. 18 interview.

"The moment we said, `we cannot go,' it would be the end of the U.S.-Japan alliance,'' Abe said.

Japan's Defense Agency in August requested a 57 percent increase in anti-missile defense spending to 219 billion yen ($1.8 billion) as part of its overall budget of 4.86 trillion yen for the fiscal year beginning April 1.

Tricky

Abe will need to frame the debate over pre-emptive strikes, constitutional revision and increased military spending so as not to damage ties with China and South Korea, analysts said.

Relations with the two neighbors soured over former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi's visits to Yasukuni Shrine, where 14 Japanese leaders convicted of war crimes are memorialized.

During his visit, Abe apologized for Japanese military action in the first half of last century. China and South Korea may not welcome signs of a more aggressive Japan.

"Japan needs close cooperation with South Korea and China on North Korea,'' said Tsuneo Watanabe, senior fellow at the Mitsui Global Strategic Studies Institute in Tokyo. ``He's created a better environment with the two now.''

A nuclear North Korea may help Japan's relations with its Asian neighbors as they seek a common solution to dealing with the communist nation. Abe said Japan and China see ``eye-to- eye'' on dealing with North Korea after meeting with Premier Hu Jintao before the test.

Quick Work

"Ironically, the nuclear test is an indication of the success of Abe's diplomacy in that he brought China to Japan's side,'' said Mineo Nakajima, president of Japan's Akita International University, and author of several books on international relations.

Changing Japan's constitution for the first time would require two-thirds approval from both chambers of parliament followed by a national referendum. Abe's ruling Liberal Democratic Party has a two-thirds majority in the lower house, but not in the upper house.

Asserting the right to self-defense might not be as difficult. A government-sponsored report submitted to Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi in October 2004 suggested Japan may be able to resort to a pre-emptive strike ``as a last resort.'' The prospect of an attack from North Korea may sway the public to accept such a policy shift.

"If the situation is immediate and serious, Abe can interpret it as requiring self-defense, without worrying about constitutional revision,'' Watanabe said. "North Korea has created such a situation.''

Source: http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=atqMv9SwkqO0&refer=japan