article_snippet: However, Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told reporters in Yokohama that the MSDF did not intend to use it in this way.
article_snippet: Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said that Japan needed to be as large as it is so Japan could host joint operations and act as a command center.
article_snippet: Defense Minister Gen Nakatani insisted that the new addition to Japan's maritime forces was designed for peaceful purposes.
article_snippet: It would cost five times Japan's current defense spending for the SDF to have an independent operational capability.
article_snippet: The Japanese public would not take that kind of risk," Defense Minister Gen Nakatani said.