Comparison of Asian national space programs Taepodong missile over Japan in 1998. The North Korean government claimed the missile was merely launching a satellite to space, and accused Japan of causing an arms race. The Japanese constitution adopted after World War II limits military activities to defensive operations. On May 2007 Prime Minister Shinzo Abe called for a bold review of the Japanese Constitution to allow the country to take a larger role in global security and foster a revival of national pride. Japan has not yet developed its own manned spacecraft and does not have a program in place to develop one. The Japanese space
Hakubun Shimomura deputy chief cabinet secretary in the first government of Shinzo Abe in 2006. Shimomura was again appointed to the Cabinet by Shinzo Abe as minister of education, culture, sports, science and technology on 26 December 2012. As minister, Shimomura expanded the ability of local schools to provide Saturday classes and pushed for the globalization of Japanese universities by increasing English skills and hiring more foreign faculty. He oversaw preparations by the Organising Committee for the 2020 Summer Olympics on behalf of the national government in Tokyo before being replaced by Olympics Minister Toshiaki Endo on June 25, 2015. Following the