personal view: the thing with japan is that after ww2 they got heavily disarmed ,they focused only on defensive military . Now ,after the Ukraine war and the problems they face with China(and north Korea) they decide to increase the military budget ,just like everybody else “if my neighbor is buying a gun ,shouldn’t I also have one ?” Everybody says that we are at the start of the second cold war ,I tend to belive it .
But if your neighbour is only buying guns because your “friend” (who hates your nbr) keeps putting his into your place - why should you get your own too? That will only lead to further escalation. Contrary, you should try to actually throw your friends guns out and reason with your neighbour.
Fighting a sovereign state decisions about its own military, something a dictator would do