Japan's foreign and security policies (Berkofsky)

"The Japanese government, after years of indecision and 'unofficial funding' from 1999-2004, officially committed itself earlier this year to develop a regional missile defence system jointly with the US. It is also making efforts to revise Japan's sacred 'peace constution', has loosed its long-standing self-imposed ban on export weapons and weapons technology, and is, together with Washington, planning to revise the 1997 US-Japan Guidelines for Defence Cooperation, expanding the geographical areas of military cooperation to the Taiwan Straits." (Berkofsky 2005, p. 82).
"The Japanese military mission in the Indian Ocean, which provides US and British warships with fuel and other logistical support for their military operations in Afghanistan, will continue, even though commentators are increasingly questioning the rationale of Japan's 'far-away-from-home' engagement in a military conflict in which major combat operations endend years ago."(p. 83 f.).
"The good news, however, is that Japan has neither the ambitions nor the capabilities to become a military superpower or a regional bully imposing its policies through military force." (p. 85).
(Berkofsky, Axel: Japans Außen- und Sicherheitspolitik. Regionale Militärmacht oder gehorsamer Allianzpartner Washingtons? In: KAS/Auslandsinformationen 10/2005, p. 82-108).