A remarkable view of the Japanese military's shifting role in post-war Japanese society.

Granted unprecedented access to Japan's "West Point" - the National Defense Academy - WIDE ANGLE captures a remarkable view of the military's shifting role in post-war Japanese society. Since WWII, Japan's American-authored, pacifist constitution has mandated a strictly defensive military force. But the line between defense and offense has blurred in recent years, as Japan looks over its shoulder at North Korea's nuclear ballistic missiles and China's growing military and
economic strength. Today, Japan's $40 billion military budget is the fifth largest in the world. The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces recently sent troops to Iraq - the first time Japanese soldiers have entered an active combat zone in three generations - and the Air Self-Defense Forces have acquired a fleet of sophisticated fighter jets capable of projecting power across Asia. As Japan reconsiders its military rules of engagement, WIDE ANGLE follows National Defense Academy cadets preparing for a future that may involve overseas deployment . Viewers meet a group of peace marchers - some of them atom bomb survivors - on a grueling two-month march from Hiroshima to Tokyo dedicated to safeguarding the constitution's Article 9 "no war" clause and keeping Japan's troops at home. With unprecedented access to joint maneuvers with the United States Marine Corps, surveillance flights over the Sea of Japan and the DDH Hyuga  - the first Japanese aircraft carrier built since WWII - "Japan's About-Face" offers unprecedented insight into the future of Asian geopolitics.