Trump candidacy stirs alliance angst in Japan

Tokyo

US presidential candidate Donald Trump's portrayal of Japan as a free-rider on security is stirring worries in Tokyo about damage to its US alliance, and could embolden hard-liners keen to bolster Japan's military in the face of a rising China.

The US-Japan alliance has been the linchpin of Tokyo's security policy for decades, but worries have simmered in recent years as to whether Washington will continue to be willing and able to defend its key Asian ally.

Comments from the Republican Party front-runner have done little to allay those fears. "If somebody attacks Japan, we have to immediately go and start World War III, okay? If we get attacked, Japan doesn't have to help us," Mr Trump said at a campaign speech late last year. "Som…