Japan pulls out of Iraq. The last report I read about the Japanese contingent was that they were going to be put under Iraqi control. Possibly this had something to do with this withdrawal decision.

Or perhaps North Korea is concentrating Japanese minds. Red-state Japanese want their compatriots to display more “wa”:

“Momentum has been building in the LDP and the main opposition Democratic Party to revise the U.S.-drafted, pacifist post-war constitution to resolve the ambiguous status of the military as Japan seeks a bigger regional and global security role.”