ABSTRACT
Japan, as a nation, is in the midst of change, much of it brought about by the end of the Cold War. The current manifestation of this change is evidenced by the fact that Japan is sending troops overseas into combat zones (in a noncombat role) for the first time since the end of World War II; the nation is very anxious to demonstrate that it can make a “human” contribution to the world community and to its American allies, in spite of its constitutional limitations. Japan is also attempting to step out of the larger shadow of the United States into greater partnership with that nation as an equal and to take its place alongside the other great powers. At the same time, Japan is coming to terms with the fact that, in spite of its great economic strength, it is vulnerable to both international and domestic economic turbulence and to its own structural problems. It is additionally coming to terms with the reality that it is a major power on the world stage; as such it can be a tempting target for extremists. An instance of this vulnerability is the Peruvian embassy hostage incident that lasted from December 1996 though April 1997.2 The role of Japan’s Self Defense Forces (SDF) in Iraq and elsewhere has now made the country a potential target of Islamic terrorist groups.
