Regarding Japan’s abolishing its military, that was a decision forced on them by the allied forces – the US wrote their post-war constitution. Other commenters have rightfully noted, however, that their defense forces are nothing less than military forces.

Others have commented that Costa Rica indeed has a military force, referred to as the national police. If one looks at modern police forces worldwide, however; they all look like military forces – many (including out neighbors to the north and south look much more like military forces than our police do. I would argue that Costa Rica’s police force is not even adequate to carry out basic police functions, much less act as a military force.

I see this initiative to gain recognition for the country as a silly PR move and agree that the government has much more pressing issues to address. Positive international attention does have its value, though – I just read an article in an international environmental organization’s newsletter praising CR for its commitment to carbon neutrality, even though that commitment is a pipe dream, considering CR’s lack of positive action to achieve that goal, a fact overlooked in the article.