Boeing General Dyn. Northrop Raytheon Textron United Def. Japan's defense has been closely tied to America since the end of World War II, when Japan's new constitution strictly limited the military's role to self-defense. The rest of East Asia is wary of Japan's military growth, and watches these buys closely. Experts predict that due to the Asian financial crisis, weapons sales to Japan and its neighbors will slow in the coming years.
Japan also continues to buy arms because of very real military threats from North Korea.
To round out 1997, Japan was licensed through DCS to buy ammunition, pistols, and rifles, plus spare parts for artillery, tanks, and bombs. Since then, Japanese and U.S. arms makers have teamed up to develop ducted rocket engines, propulsion technology using ceramics, and advanced steels. In a September 1994 report, Greenpeace analyzed transfers of U.S. nuclear reprocessing technology to Japan. Following the Greenpeace report, Clinton's Energy Department contended that the transfers were in line with an uncodified 1986 guideline that allows the U.S. to transfer SNT to countries that already have nuclear programs. All letters to the editor are for publication and may be edited for space and clarity.