Japan Ponders New Military Role

T O K Y O, Sept. 25 -- Junichiro Koizumi is without question the most popular prime minister Japan has had since the end of World War II. Charismatic, charming, andpolitically astute, he's Japan's version of the Renaissance Man — andamong his many talents is a decided knack for persuasion.

Which is good, considering that it looks like Koizumi is about to attempt a major sea-change in what Japan can and will do on the world stage to help its allies.

A national poll released in Japan today showed 70 percent of Japaneseadults favored mobilizing Japan's military to provide logistical support for expected U.S. retaliatory action to the terrorist attacks.

Warlord Legacy

Until the end of World War II, Japan was for centuries a fiercelymilitaristic society. The Cult of the Warrior was exalted.

In the 1930s and '40s, rampant and ruthless Japanese militarism was ondisplay in Asia even before the attack on Pearl Harbor. When the war ended, Japan was in a state of financial ruin.

But then something extraordinary happened. The American conquerors didn't sack Japan as the Japanese feared; instead, the Americans helped rebuild it, and along the way, lay down the foundations of democracy.

Rising from the Ashes

Japan renounced war and recoiled from it, and when the Post-War constitution was written, it was made very clear that by law, Japan would never fight again, except in self-defense.

For more than 50 years, Japan has kept to this pacifistic course. It does have a military, of a sort — which is called the Self-Defense Force and is only to be used to protect the Japanese homeland.

But Japan, the second-biggest economic power in the world, is now keenly aware that the rules of the game are changing, and as one of the major players on the world stage, Japan perhaps ought to be changing too.

Fighting Back?

So when Koizumi meets with President Bush today inWashington, the topic at the top of the list will undoubtedly be theterrorist attacks on New York and Washington and what measures Japan can take to help prevent future attacks.