Japan spends 1% of its national budget on its army. Sorry, it's not an army, it's a "self-defense force." However, Japan's security treaty with America is supposed to guarantee US protection if attacked -- the ostensible reason for the tens of thousands of US soldiers based in Japan -- so the SDF is kind of pointless.
It mainly gets used for when there are earthquakes and other emergencies. Saying that, Japan spends more on its SDF than, say, the UK does on its armed forces -- even though the latter's are active around the whole world.
Where does the money go? Equipment. The SDF has some ...
