Absolutely it's not a poster child, I admitted as much that the Japanese government is corrupt as well.

I think the Japanese get more out of what they spend/sacrifice for their government than the US. That's not to imply anything approaching perfection either.

Much of that is just that they're depending, at least in part, on US taxpayers for their security.

That is certainly a factor, although if Abe and his type get their way, that may change.

Yes, well, Japan has just about reached the limits of the "construction state". When you've built rail lines that hardly anybody uses, and when you're finished with cisterns under Tokyo that will handle thousand year floods, you need to start building aircraft carriers or you'll run out of ways to create jobs.