Japan is debating its place in the region and the world. Or so it seems. There is no mistaking the attempt by some Japanese officials and intellectuals – from Prime Minister Koizumi Junichiro on down – to redefine Tokyo’s international role. This process is behind the prime minister’s controversial visits to Yasukuni Shrine, the historic deployment of Self-Defense Forces to aid coalition forces in Afghanistan and Iraq, and the redefinition of the U.S.-Japan security alliance that has been laid out in various documents, most notably the “2+2 meetings” of the two allies’ leading foreign policy and defense officials.