MILITARY TRAINS FOR OVERSEAS MISSIONS

Japan’s military has begun training to carry out new missions overseas in a move that could prove controversial in a nation so attached to its pacifist beliefs in the decades since the Second World War.

Defence Minister Tomomi Inada announced the change, saying units would start training this week. “It’s natural to make the proper preparations to respond under any circumstances,” she said Wednesday.

Self-Defence Force troops will train for a UN peacekeeping mission in South Sudan starting in November. That will include troops potentially using weapons to rescue UN staff, and joining troops from other nations in defending the barracks of peacekeepers if they come under fire.

Previously, Japanese peacekeepers could only use their weapons to defend themselves if attacked, and that was “limited to the minimum necessary to protect the lives of personnel.”

“It does eventually allow Japan for the first time to come to the rescue for other nations,” said Michael Cucek, an adjunct fellow at Temple University’s Japan campus. “Basically, until now Japan was a lead weight on peacekeeping operations.”