The White Paper on national defense is an annual revision of the country's basic defense program, which this year reflects the Japanese leadership's drive to change the country's pacifist Constitution, drafted by U.S. occupational authorities in 1947.
"Globalization has stripped traditional meaning from national borders, and Japan's responsibilities today include utilizing its defense capabilities...for international peace cooperation activities," the White Paper 2007 said.
The current Constitution bans the use of military force as a means of resolving international disputes, and the government, led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, aims to amend articles that prohibit Japan from having its own armed forces.
The defense report also reflects Japan's desire to build its own missile shield in cooperation with the United States amid fears of a potential missile threat from North Korea and China's drive to boost its military power.
North Korea became one of Tokyo's biggest security worries after it test-fired a long-range ballistic missile over Japan in 1998, prompting Tokyo to begin researching missile defense.
Japan's determination to boost its missile defenses was strengthened after Pyongyang conducted a series of ballistic missile tests in July 2006, and an underground nuclear test explosion three months later.
"The series of actions taken by North Korea poses a serious threat to the peace and stability of the international community, in particular to East Asia," the White Paper said.
The report reaffirmed Tokyo's plans to deploy a two-tier missile shield combining sea and land-based systems.
The U.S. SM-3 interceptor missiles, to be deployed on five Aegis-class destroyers in the Japanese Navy, are designed to intercept incoming missiles in mid-trajectory, while the U.S. Patriot PAC-3 systems, deployed at four ground-to-air missile units, are set to shoot down missiles before they hit the ground.
The document also criticized China for not being transparent in terms of its military might, and said Beijing had never given a satisfactory explanation for the anti-satellite weapons test this year.
China tested its space weapons in January by destroying one of its old meteorological satellites with a medium-range ballistic missile, and both Japan and the United States expressed concern over the theoretical possibility that China could shoot down satellites operated by other countries.
China later confirmed the destruction of its satellite, but said it was not planning to spread an arms race into space.
"China continues to modernize its military capabilities and it is necessary to carefully analyze the influence," the White Paper said.
Meanwhile, the document reiterated Japan's adherence to "fundamental principles of maintaining an exclusively defense oriented policy, and not becoming a military power that might pose a threat to other countries."
According to the Defense Ministry, Japan's Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) numbered about 240,000 in 2005, with reservists totaling at least 58,000.
