Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe wants to change the postwar Constitution to transform the Self-Defense Forces into REAL standing military forces and it's about time!!! The world is especially sensitive to Japanese naval ambitions given WW2 but that hasn't prevented Japan from building its first helicopter carrier the Hyuga at 20,000 tons, 650 ft long, 108 wide, with a hangar 350' x 60' x 22'. The Izumo claimed as a "flat-topped destroyer" (22DDH) by comparison is 27,000 tons, 850 ft long, 120 ft wide, and has a hangar 550' x 80' x 22' and with 14 helos. It is capable of launching aircraft like the future F-35 VSTOL as well as drones and the tilt-rotor MV-22 Osprey. Since China and Japan dispute the chain of islands in the S China Sea (Senkakus vs Diaoyus), Japan is building more warships to patrol the waters and challenge the Chinese (who built a carrier of their own). Izumo is WW2 sized and only 1/3rd the tonnage of a US CVN... but something tells me they will go larger. Izumo will be ready for operations by March 2015, the year Abe wants the Constitution rules scrapped on military restrictions. The Japanese people once opposed to both nukes and carriers have changed their minds over Chinese military power and N Korean aggression.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-JdA9ostVcNE/UgG5Hltz07I/AAAAAAAAb8I/UrZM-c53y14/s320/Japan+Unveils+Izumo+Class+Helicopter+Destroyer+(Light+Aircraft+Carrier)Japan+Maritime+Self-Defense+Force+ah-64+sh-60+ddh+183+(2).jpg
http://www.jeffhead.com/worldwideaircraftcarriers/22DDH-0011.jpg