Japanese Security Engagement in Africa

The National Bureau of Asian Research published on 9 November 2015 an analysis titled "The Parameters of Japan's New Security Legislation Are Being Framed in Africa" by Jeremy Taylor, an independent consultant.

In September 2015 the Japanese Diet's Upper House passed controversial security legislation that radically changed the interpretation of Japan's postwar pacificst constitution.  The application of these new laws is being tested in the waters off the Horn of Africa and in South Sudan. 

The only Japanese military forces currently deployed overseas are those involved in antipiracy operations off the Horn of Africa and peacekeepers deployed to the United Nations Mission in South Sudan (UNMISS).  Japan's Maritime Self Defense Force has established a naval base in Djibouti, the first base outside Japan since the end of World War II. 

Japan's peacekeeping deployment in South Sudan and antipiracy operation based in Djibouti tie together long-apparent ambitions to reinterpret the constitution with an emerging foreign policy agenda that includes a more visible and relevant military dimension.