This is a very interesting development. I know the U.S. was pushing Japan for some time to take more active part in that part of the world. I guess this would be the begining…
TOKYO, Japan (AP) – Japan said Friday that stability in East Asia will be strengthened by an agreement with Washington to let the U.S. Navy station a nuclear-powered aircraft carrier in Japan’s waters for the first time.
The U.S. Navy on Thursday announced the deal, which comes 60 years after the United States dropped two nuclear bombs on Japanese cities, Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in World War II to force the Japanese Empire to surrender.
“Japan believes that the continued presence of the U.S. Navy … will contribute to Japan’s safety and … stability in the Far East,” Chief Cabinet Secretary Hiroyuki Hosoda said Friday.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/WORLD/asiapcf/10/27/japan.nuclear.ap/index.html