(21 Aug 2012) The Japanese Self Defence Forces (JSDF) demonstrated their military capabilities in an annual drill at the foot of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture on Tuesday.
The live-fire exercise involved some 2,400 soldiers, 80 tanks and armoured vehicles, 80 artillery units, 30 aircraft and 600 other military vehicles.
The Self Defence Force have been assisting with reconstruction efforts in northern Japan since the earthquake and tsunami of March 11 last year.
Spokesperson Takashi Tomiyoshi said the JSDF will continue providing humanitarian support in addition to its national security operations.
Japan has a pacifist constitution that forbids offensive military operations.
The exercises were open to the public and watched by an estimated 20-thousand people.
The military drills took place amid growing tensions in the biggest territorial flare-ups in years over disputed islands in Asia.
A recent unauthorised landing by activists on a tiny island in what the Japanese call the Senkaku chain - and the Chinese call the Diaoyu - sparked protests across China and fuelled calls for aggressive government action that some fear could lead to a dangerous escalation of tensions.
The islands, also claimed by Taiwan, are important mainly because of their location, which is near key sea lanes.
They are surrounded in the East China Sea by rich fishing grounds and as-yet untapped underwater natural resources.
Tokyo is also embroiled in an ongoing dispute with South Korea over a group of sparsely populated islands in the Sea of Japan, called Takeshima in Japanese and Dokdo in Korean.
The Japanese government said on Tuesday it will propose to South Korea that their dispute over the islands be resolved by the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
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