Japan took a modest but potentially disturbing new step this week. It is a step away from the pacifism that resulted from Japan's defeat in World War II and toward the militarism that created bitter enmity throughout Asia - enmity that still persists long after the justification for it.
By approving the use of Japanese troops in foreign peacekeeping operations, that country's parliament put Tokyo on a slippery path. This course could eventually lead to the development of enough military muscle to match Japan's economic muscle.The excuse for this change is weak. It rests on the criticism Japan received for not contributing troops to the United Nations peacekeeping force during the Persian Gulf conflict. But such criticism was limited to a few nations, especially those that had not been on the receiving end of Japan's attempts to overrun much of Asia before World War II. Besides, Japan contributed generously (with a hefty $9 billion) if at times tardily to financing the U.N. effort that drove Iraqi invaders from Kuwait.
The new law permitting the use of Japanese troops abroad as peace-keepers is hedged about with plenty of safeguards. The troops cannot go anywhere a cease-fire has broken down or where one of the parties opposes a Japanese presence. But only a few years ago the Japanese would not have considered even the slightest modification of the blanket ban on the use of its troops abroad. As more time goes by, how many other barriers to a resurgence of militarism will be abandoned?
The danger is that a new generation of Japanese leaders unmarked by the scars of defeat may forget the lessons taught by World War II.
Already there has been some slippage. While most other major countries have cut military spending since the end of the Cold War, Japan has continued to build its military - which is now a lavishly equipped high-tech force 250,000 strong.
At present, the Japanese military has neither the equipment nor the training for aggressive fighting. Its largest warship, for example, is only a medium-size destroyer. Instead, the Japanese military is admirably suited for post-war reconstruction work. Much of the Japanese public is reluctant to see their troops used abroad in any capacity, no matter how peaceful.
But the fact remains that Japan is among the world's five top military spenders. This is far more than Tokyo needs just to defend itself. The world had better keep a close watch. The nation that recovered from World War II to become a major economic power could one day become a major military power, too.