article_snippet.sent: (CNN)The classic video game "Space Invaders" was developed in Japan back in the late 1970's -- and now Japan real-life counterparts are the topic of an earnest political discussion in Japan's corridors of power.
article_snippet.sent: The lawmaker, who is universally known in Japan for Inoki colossal chin and once-ever-present red scarf -- these days often replaced with a red necktie -- as much as for Inoki political achievements, had asked a Upper House Budget Committee meeting if aircraft were ever scrambled to meet extraterrestrial threats, and if research was being done into alien visitors, prompting Nakatani's response.
article_snippet.sent: Inoki also claims to have seen a UFO with Inoki own eyes, but admitted that Inoki didn't know personally if aliens existed.
article_snippet.sent: The exchange wasn't the first time Japanese politicians have discussed the implications of visitors from another planet.
article_snippet.sent: In 2007 then-Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba pondered the legal ramifications, under Japan's pacifist constitution, of a defense against an invasion from outer space.
article_snippet.sent: Japan unveils Izumo, Japan largest warship since World War II .
highlights_snippet.sent: Antonio Inoki had posed a question concerning extraterrestrials to a government committee .