As Japan prepares to redefine the Self-Defense Forces as a bona fide military, the government will have to address the sensitive question of how much say SDF officers should have in national security.
As in other areas of postwar defense policy and operations, the government's position has been largely defined by the bitter legacy of Japan's wartime military aggression.
The Meiji Constitution granted the emperor supreme command over the army and navy, and excluded the Cabinet and Diet from decisions on military operations. This paved the way for the military elite to take control of the civilian-led government and dominate foreign policy in the 1930s, leading to expansionism.