Asia military analyst Franz-Stefan Gady asks just how fighting fit are Japan's so-called Self-Defence Forces? Japan's relationship with its armed forces was once a defining characteristic of the nation. Indeed, "Fukoku kyohei [Enrich the state, strengthen the military]" was the battle cry of the reformers who founded modern Japan during the so-called Meiji Restoration beginning in the 1860s. In th
![Toothless tiger: Japan Self-Defence Forces](https://cdn-ak-scissors.b.st-hatena.com/image/square/eb945bea2f4def1bf54e5b0ca8aa751f48c64060/height=288;version=1;width=512/https%3A%2F%2Fichef.bbci.co.uk%2Fnews%2F1024%2Fbranded_news%2F129A0%2Fproduction%2F_86129167_ap.jpg)