>They also considered that Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution was only a "legal fiction" and would not prevent Japanese rearmament or aggression

Well, at least he got this right, but Japan in the 80's was still a military powerhouse, they had the 5th largest navy in the world, they still have the 5th largest today but in the 80's they were more defense focused, now they have a lot more attack capabilities and will have even more in the next years with their huge Tomahawk cruise missiles adquisitions, the new ASEV ships and the two reconverted Izumo class into aircraft carriers.

But this happened today with a "weak" economy so Japan's Self Defense Forces will never be as powerful as US Armed Forces... now is China the one that took Japan's place in this hypothetiical future.