Hosted by Aaron Brown, “Wide Angle” (9 p.m., Channel 9) presents “Japan’s About Face,” a look at changing attitudes toward that country’s military. Drafted during the American occupation, the Japanese constitution forbids a national policy of “belligerency” and limits the armed forces to “self-defense” units.
For years, the American government has been pushing Japan to increase its military presence. Japanese troops were part of the coalition in Iraq, but they were limited to humanitarian efforts. And the self-defense policy of not shooting first meant that their forces had to be escorted by other coalition forces.
Japanese politicians and would-be military leaders find this absurd. But many, including older citizens who remember the catastrophe of World War II, cling to Japan’s pacifist constitution.
Others, including businessmen interviewed here, argue that Japan now requires a military to protect its oil supply and defend itself from a possible Chinese menace. They obliquely and politely suggest that while America has been part of the Japanese defense equation for six decades, the decline of the dollar and rise of the Chinese and Indian economies may someday create a world where America is too weak, encumbered or distracted to come to Japan’s aid.
• Aspiring rapper Sal returns on the second-season premiere of “Baldwin Hills” (10 p.m., BET), a 10-episode teen docu-soap set in a middle- to upper-class African-American neighborhood in the hills overlooking Los Angeles.
• “Nova” (8 p.m., Channel 9) examines the “perfectly” preserved corpses found in Ireland’s peat bogs, where bodies more than 2,000 years old still feature soft tissue and retain evidence of murders committed during the prehistoric Iron Age. Can “CSI: Limerick” be far behind?
Tonight’s other highlights: Two episodes of “Deadliest Catch” (8 p.m., r, and 9 p.m., Discovery) give way to “After the Catch” (10 p.m), where crab-fishing veterans discuss crazy captains and seagoing shenanigans.
• Lee faces homelessness on the second-season premiere of “Not Going Out” (8:40 p.m., BBC America).
• “Primetime: The Outsiders” (10 p.m., Channel 4) profiles a retired Alaskan schoolteacher who has struck up an unusual relationship with local bears.
• Liam’s first birthday is celebrated with much fanfare on “Tori & Dean: Home Sweet Hollywood” (10 p.m., Oxygen).
• The guys rate bars on a five-minute episode of “Rescue Me” (10 p.m., FX, TV-MA).
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