You might see an article like this one from CNN and wonder why China and Korea are twitchy about Japan's new, more muscular view of defense. I expect this nervousness also could be found all over east and south Asia: Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam, the Philippines, Oceania, etc.
In the 1930s and 1940s Japan invaded these countries and more in the attempt to build what they called The Greater East Asia Co Prosperity Sphere. We called it the Empire of Japan, and after late 1941, "enemy territory."
In virtually none of these countries did the Japanese leave behind many friends. True, they were fellow Asians, but they were also arrogant, brutal colonial overlords. The idea that Japan again might be developing a serious military can give Asia the creeps.
