Well if Abe really wants to shake up the region all his has to do is exit the NPT and go nuclear. More than any other country on the planet, Japan has the technology and means to nuke it up in an eye blink.
Of course that is also against their constitution, but then so is having offensive weapons of any kind.
Japan?s Unveils ?Aircraft Carrier in Disguise? | The Diplomat
And BTW, history not exactly on the Japanese side if you are talking about who threatens whom...
For years Japan took everything without uttering a squeak
I guess anything before 1945 doesn't count then.