The occasion was marked by a ceremony at Sasebo military base on the island of Kyushu.

This may not seem particularly newsworthy. After all, the activation of a single marine brigade would not be a remarkable event in virtually any other nation on the planet. But in Japan, where there has not been such a marine activation since WWII, it is extraordinary.

Well, extraordinary but not unexpected. To anyone who has been paying attention, Japan's definitely-not-an-offensive-military "Self-Defence Force" is, for all intents and purposes, an offensive military in disguise.

For those not in the know, Article 9 of the Japanese post-war constitution explicitly forbids the country from maintaining "land, sea and air forces." Or, in its full context: