Japan's DPJ government, unlike its predecessors, understands that the country must develop a more independent and assertive foreign policy in order to balance the power of China in Asia. But the US seems to prefer an obedient one-party state to a difficult, faltering, but more democratic partner in the region.
https://prosyn.org/07Mvo0n
TOKYO – Revolutions, it is often claimed, do not happen when people are desperate. They occur in times of rising expectations. Perhaps this is why they so often end in disappointment. Expectations, usually set too high to begin with, fail to be met, resulting in anger, disillusion, and often in acts of terrifying violence.