|
On paper, Japan is a pacifist nation. It ranks 6th on the Global Peace Index, a list tabulated by peace activists at Vision of Humanity. Japan's constitution makes illegal a traditional standing army. But a recently published defense white paper shows the extent to which the country has one of the most well-equipped "invisible" armies in the world. 从名义上说，日本是和个平主义国家。根据人道视野组织（Vision of Humanity）编制的全球和平指数（Global Peace Index），日本在世界最和平国家中排名第6。根据日本宪法规定，拥有传统意义上的常备军是不合法的。但最新发布的国防白皮书显示，日本已经到了拥有世界上装备最精良的“隐形”军队之一的程度。 Japan's armed forces are euphemistically dubbed the "Self Defense Force" (SDF) -- officially it's an extension of the police. 日本的武装部队被委婉地称为“自卫队”（简称SDF），从官方来说它是警察的延伸。 But with the world's 6th best-equipped troops and a nearly $60 billion defense budget last year, the SDF is not composed of your average beat cops. "Japan enjoyed an isolationist status until now," says Narushige Michishita, a past adviser to Tokyo on defense and now director of the security and international program at Tokyo's National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies. "It was very convenient; we didn't have to get involved in conflicts. But now the U.S. wants Japan to be more proactive," he says. | 
