Japan Will Now Allow It's Military To Come To The Aid Of Friendly Countries Under Attack, Including The United States.

Photo: JUST KIDDING? The Japanese emperor, Hirohito, signs the 1947 Constitution, containing, among other articles, a renunciation forever of war as a sovereign right. Prime Minister Abe announced this week that the constitution was being reinterpeted on this head. New York Sun/Wikimedia

Japan Takes Historic Step From Post-War Pacifism, OKs Fighting For Allies -- Reuters

(Reuters) - Japan took a historic step away from its post-war pacifism on Tuesday by ending a ban that has kept the military from fighting abroad since 1945, a victory for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe but a move that has riled China and worries many Japanese voters.

The change, the most dramatic policy shift since Japan set up its post-war armed forces 60 years ago, will widen Japan's military options by ending the ban on exercising "collective self-defense", or aiding a friendly country under attack.

Abe's cabinet adopted a resolution outlining the shift, which also relaxes limits on activities in U.N.-led peace-keeping operations and "grey zone" incidents short of full-scale war, Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters.

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More News On Japan Now Allowing It's Military To Come To The Aid Of Friendly Countries Under Attack

Japan Announces A Military Shift To Thwart China -- New York Times
Japan's Cabinet Eases Post-WWII Limits on Military -- ABC News/AP
Japan Ends Ban on Military Self-Defense -- Time
Japan flexes its muscles, shifts its defense policy with Pentagon support -- Washington Post
Japan Loosens Guidelines for Defensive Operations -- Defense News
Japan relaxes pacifist constitution, will allow fighting overseas -- Al Jazeera
Japan's New Defense Posture -- WSJ
Japanese PM Defends 'Collective Self-Defense' Push -- Voice of America
Japan Overturns Ban On Military Fighting Overseas, And The Chinese Aren't Happy -- IBTimes
Japanese pacifists unnerved by lifting of ban on military intervention -- The Guardian
Japan Readies for War -- The New York Sun editorial