Quote Originally Posted by xerx View Post
Yeah, Japan was forbidden from having aircraft carriers but was allowed to have "helicopter carriers" (it has four, IIRC).
It only has two, the Izumo, and the Kaga. They are both being renovated to allow for the F-35s to take off and land on them. The US has agreed to continue recognizing them as "helicopter carriers" though because aircraft carriers have been judged unconstitutional, and remain so. They are getting around this for now because the JSDF will not be operating the F-35s stationed on the carriers, the USMC will. Meanwhile, all of the JSDF's new F-35s will be operated out of land bases. Functionally none of this really makes any difference though. Japan operates basically in tandem with the US in military affairs, and all the weirdness is just to get around their constitution which prevents them from fielding a force which could be deemed capable of invading other countries