By 8.45am on February 19, 1942, almost 50 Japanese fighters and bombers had been launched from the deck of the Soryu aircraft carrier. An hour later the planes, led by the whining Mitsubishi A6M “Zero” fighters, had begun the bombing of Darwin — a raid that killed hundreds, sank eight vessels and was the largest ever mounted by a foreign power against Australia.

Seven decades later, Japan is back — by invitation. The Australian government, as part of a $20bn programme to renew its submarine fleet, has expressed interest in buying Japanese diesel-electric vessels named in honour of the Soryu. If Japan wins the contract, the submarines will be built, at least in part, by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries.

For 70 years, Japan has been a slumbering giant in the defence sector, but it is now waking up. In April 2014, as part of his new stance of “proactive pacifism”, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe ended Japan’s self-imposed ban on the export of weapons.