User blog comment:WolfgangBSC/The Random Chat Room/@comment-13740085-20160412010805/@comment-25109605-20160412152719

If Japan decides to invest in building a 1:1 scale replica of either the Kongo, Fuso, or Nagato, I'd go visit that thing. Which, sadly, won't happen because the Japanese Constitution has that f*cking section named Article 9, which OUTLAWS Japan from having an actual army, navy, and air force by having a goddamn "self-defense force" instead.

Article 9, for those who don't know, is the reason why Japan is so pacifist and isn't going to assist the U.S. in the war against ISIS anytime soon. It was implemented in the first draft of their constitution in 1947, stating that:


 * Japan is to not maintain any air, sea, or land forces. This means Japan bans itself from having strike bombers, battlecruiser-sized capital ships, aircraft carriers, and weapons of mass destruction, but is able to build a fifth-generation stealth fighter for some goddamn reason.


 * Japan cannot declare war unless the Japanese Islands are under invasion or threatened by nations such as China, North Korea, and Russia. This means Japan cannot send warships to the Persian Gulf to assist in ISIS missile strikes or launch an invasion. They ARE, however, able to patrol disputed territorial waters with U.S. warships in the South China Sea and participate in the RIMPAC wargames in Hawaii. Unless World War III were to erupt, then I think Japan'll be a part of it in actual combat.