According to a Cabinet Office survey conducted in November and December, 45.2 per cent of respondents said the size and capabilities of the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) “should be strengthened”, the highest level since the question was first asked. By contrast, 49.8 per cent said the size and capabilities of the SDF should be maintained at current levels. In 1991, there was a gap of more than 50 percentage points between those who favoured expanding the SDF and those satisfied with existing defence arrangements. In the most recent poll, that gap had narrowed to just 4.6 percentage points. Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi attends a new year military drill by the Ground Self-Defence Force’s 1st Airborne Brigade at the Narashino training ground in Funabashi, east of Tokyo, on January 11.