With the new set of laws, however, which are likely to go into effect without a hitch, the stage will become set for much wider overseas activity by Japanese military forces. They will pave the way for Japan to become, as the hawkish Ozawa Ichiro has proposed, a "normal country," meaning one that can project military force to protect its national interests.

The stated objective of the revisions, based on a new set of Guidelines on U.S.-Japan Defense Cooperation signed in 1997, is not simply to project Japanese power, of course. It is to promote "stability in the Far East" -- presumably against such "destabilizing" factors as North Korea and China.

Of course, compared to the United States, which lobs missiles into foreign nations' territories with sickening regularity, the new bills are moderate. Essentially, they will commit Japanese forces to providing logistical support for US operations (no, sorry, activities) in the region, giving American forces access to airports, ports, and hospitals, and in addition will allow the SDF to carry out a limited range of activities outside of its own territories -- rescuing citizens, foreign combatants "outside the combat zone" (whatever that means), and stopping and inspecting foreign vessels on the high seas.

In fact, the laws represent a dangerous step forward toward the remilitarization of Japan, a dream that has been held by conservatives such as Nakasone Yasuhiro (and, incidentally, Tokyo's new governor, Ishihara Shintaro) ever since the end of the Allied occupation. The irony of course is that this is being carried out largely under US initiative, as part of America's strategy in the Far East.

Certain of the changes can themselves be seen as alarming. After all, Japan's full-fledged invasion of China in the 1930s was prompted, at every step of the way, by a series of escalating operations, all to rescue Japanese citizens (not that Japan is the only country in the world to be guilty of such deception...)

But more importantly, for the first time in postwar history, private citizens, and in particular workers at airports, ports, and hospitals, may be called upon to support a war effort. For many progressives this brings back uneasy memories of the "total mobilization effort" which was employed during World War II. For this reason, local assemblies around the country have been at the forefront of the opposition to the new laws.

From the elites' perspective, however, the relationship is proceeding smoothly. In the next few weeks the United States seems almost certain to achieve what it has been after -- an assurance that actions in the Far East will be supported by a group of "allies," including Japan. They are concerned, surely, about the anti-base sentiment, in Okinawa particularly, and in other parts of Japan as well. But with the new defense bills being supported by nearly all political forces -- with the sole exceptions of the Japan Communist Party and the Social Democratic Party -- the momentum seems to be on their side. And this is not to mention other important recent events, such as the purchase by Japan of a group of AWACs (an enormously expensive modified Boeing 767 which looks like a passenger plane with a huge radar dish on its back), as well as the decision to participate in the Theater Missile Defense (TMD) program, which will commit the Japanese government to spending billions of yen on a project that is probably unfeasible, and even if feasible, will not be ready until at least 2010.