Tokyo needs nukes II: Electric Boogaloo

It took 16 months for the sequal, but thanks to Opinion Journal:

No one knows how long it would take Japan to go nuclear, though estimates are days or weeks. But for 60 years Japan has refrained from becoming a nuclear power and remained militarily quiescent. That particular sun may be rising again, however, thanks to the support by China and South Korea for the military threats of North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il.

This is the meaning of a remarkable, but underreported, comment last week that Japan might want to knock out North Korea's missile bases with a pre-emptive military strike. "If we accept that there is no other option to prevent an attack . . . there is the view that attacking the launch base of the guided missiles is within the constitutional right of self-defense," said Chief Cabinet Secretary Shinzo Abe. "We need to deepen discussion." The head of Japan's Defense Agency made a similar observation.

Like I said last year.

“If you were Japanese and you lived in their neighborhood, would you want a nuclear deterrent?” Answer, “You bet your sake soaked ass I would!”

...and it t'ain't just me; the girls are at it too. Both Ninme and Bookie are looking at the rising sun.