Japan is a country with few natural resources and little domestic food production, so the safety of merchant shipping is a matter of national survival in crisis or wartime. Japan is also a maritime nation that is surrounded by the sea. The Maritime Self-Defense Force Navy intercepts the enemy at sea in order to prevent land invasion. Despite the fact that Japan ranks no. 61 in the world in land area, at about 380 000 km 2 (not including in south Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands with the exception of the four northern islands), the territorial sea, contiguous zone, exclusive economic zone (EEZ) of Japan cover about 4.48 million km2, about 12 times the land area. This is the sixth largest in the world in total area.
With this in mind, Japan may find itself in need of a larger aircraft carrier than the country has today with the Izumo Class carriers. The latter are basically helicopter carriers modified to carry and operate around 12-14 F-35B's per vessel. Though they currently are Japan's largest warships and are a significant improvement of the capabilities for the Japanse Navy to operate further away from its shores for a longer period of time, the carriers would most likely not be capable enough to face the full threat of China's new naval power (China wants to operate 6 carrier strike groups in 2030) and Japan might need a larger, dedicated aircraft carrier to match China's new carriers in case of a conflict.
Pictured here is DDH-187 Shimano, a concept I made for a future Japanese carrier, based on the British HMS Queen Elizabeth Class, but with an angled flight deck. With a length of 312 metres, a width of 78 metres and a displacement of around 92,000 tons, they would be Japan's largest warships ever built since the end of World War II. They would be conventionally powered and carry up to 65 fixed wing- and rotary aircraft, including the F-35. It's flight deck is a hybrid CATOBAR- and STOVL-configuration, enabling the Japanese Navy to operate both the F-35B, as well as the F-35C and heavier aircrafts, such as the E-2D Hawkeye.
