Really Worthwhile Reads

Via a link on the Reischauer Center's blogsite comes William Brooks, the former director of the translation division at the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, on the historical background to the Futenma climbdown. My only caveat to Brooks's timely tour-de-force: stay alert to the biases of various of Japanese media groups he cites.

Kiwi analyst Corey Wallace on an under-the-radar Liberal Democratic Party bill creating a permanent law on the dispatch of Self Defense Forces for peacekeeping and disaster relief purposes. The key point he homes in on: the proposed law will define what a peacekeeping mission is, with the rules of engagement being taken off the table.