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Repeating an oft-heard refrain, all five candidates for the leadership of the main opposition party declared during a recently televised discussion that “a strong Japan” was their most pressing goal, and expressed resolve to protect its endangered territorial integrity. Is Japan’s “weakness” real, and if so in what way? When politicians call for a “stronger Japan,” do they mean militarily, economically and internationally? Or is this merely a distraction from Japan’s real structural problems?