Speaking in Tokyo Friday, Defense Minister Naoki Tanaka said the Japanese military will be prepared for any eventuality.
Tanaka says he is ordering officials to prepare deployment of PAC-3 surface-to-air missiles and Aegis destroyers carrying a state-of-the-art anti-missile system that could attempt to shoot down the rocket.
Pyongyang says it will place an earth observation satellite into a polar orbit in mid-April to honor the 100th birth anniversary of its late founder and perennial president, Kim Il Sung.
Japan was not happy when North Korea fired a missile over Japanese territory before. Now Japan can do something about it. If North Korea wants to send a message to Japan, Japan might send a message right back.
Japan can do this because they have always had good--if small--military forces. And Japan continues to rearm in a dangerous neighborhood. And don't say that China hasn't had advanced notice of the consequences of failing to control their yappy lap dog.