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Let us say that things had turned out a little differently for Japan after World War 2 (I LOVE alternate history). What do I mean? Well, they were treated like Germany was. Although occupied by America, they are still permitted to make war, and, in this, the modern day, have a fully modern military to do so with, just like Germany. Secondly,gun laws are not nearly so strict as they are in today's Japan. With the eradication (by the Americans, of course) of the 19th century laws forbidding the private ownership of swords, the basis for forbidding the private ownership of firearms was not quite there. So basically, we have a Japan that is permitted to make war, and that has a populace permitted to own such items as handguns. Finally, Japan does make war. The Phillipines and Indonesia have collapsed into a veritable bloodbath, and with America and Europe tied up in Africa and the Middle East, and with China and Russia ttoo busy dealing with their "sibling rivalry", it generally falls to Australia, New Zealand, Taiwan, South Korea, and Japan to police the Pacific, with Japan generally taking the leading role, and South Korea and Taiwan mostly getting involved to gain some much desired combat experience for their troops, which might prove lifesaving when the Commies invade. Keep in mind that some of the groups our new, more militant Japanese friends are fighting have ex-Filipino/Indonesian military naval and air assets, so good warships and fighter jets are a must have.

So we have the situation hammered out. Now here is the point of the thread. If Japan had motive to build military equipment that is just as good as what you would find in an American, British, French, or German arsenal, what would it be like? How would it look? What would it be called? Keep in mind that, although Japan does build modern military equipment, it's designed solely for defense, and a lot of it isn't quite up to par with America and Europe. In this universe, Japan needs equipment for offense that is on par with America and Europe. What would they call their tanks? What kind of warships would they build? Would they build medium aircraft carriers or supercarriers? Would they have a Stryker equivalent? What would they name that? What kinds of fighter jets would they make without American assistance? If you don't have F-15s and F-2s, what do you use? Would you need a carrier born fighter? What kind of rifle would be churned out for soldiers if the weapon was actually expected to be used? What kind of civilian legal firearms would be produced? Who would buy them?

The would steal other nations' weapons and make cheap knockoffs, just like they've always done. Look at the Nambu and Luger pistols. Prime example right there.

Also, they'd have a massive brownwater navy.

Japan needs to import nearly every single raw material, that's a very important piece of information. They have nearly no iron or petroleum reserves...
At least, that's what I learned in History class.

Given this specific information, the chances that Japan would rebuild and create an independent weapons development program are quite good.

Keep in mind that Japan was the first to master one of the most profound shifts in metallurgy. Specifically the ability to work iron and carbon into two different forms of steel which, in turn, could be melded into a surgically sharp blade we know as the tachi (or, more commonly called katana) sword.

So there is evidence that Japan can produce quite profound and powerful developments of its own.

I would guess that they would focus on aircraft once the post war era wrapped up. Seeing the loss of their naval forces and the futility of ground battle after being driven back to their own shores, they would most likely rebuild from their strength.

After all, Pearl Harbor was their zenith as far as a successful tactic goes.

You have no idea how the katana is used, do you? You don't bash the blades together in combat like in the West. A katana fight would only hast a few seconds. Both combatants would attempt to draw and strike in one swing, and whoever accomplished this first was the winner, and the loser was dead, dying, or critically injured. As a result, katana's generally didn't break. They didn't see heavy enough use to. That pretty much makes the whole repair comment pointless.

Right, but would they prefer medium carriers (Charles de Gaulle class type) or supercarriers (Nimitz class type)?

Until you hit a bone and chip it.

There was swordplay to katana fighting, they just preferred to dodge over blocking. What you just described is a Bleach swordfight. Kendo is closer to the truth.

The Yamato class battleship had the largest guns to ever float. I'd bet supercarriers.

Note: The Missouri's were more powerful and, I think, had a larger bore/length 'caliber' ratio, but the Yamato's were physically larger.