Robert Ward, Senior Fellow and Japan Chair at the International Institute for Strategic Studies and author of the book Evaluating Japan's New Strategy, tells DW how Japan is building its defense muscles without needing to flex them.

Taiwan plays a big part, with Japan increasingly concerned about China's ambitions over the island, which lies just kilometers away from its own claimed territory.

Ward says the recent unreliability of the US is pushing Japan to step up, and drawing other nations to its side.