Not Always Easy: Lessons Learned on Introducing New Defense Capabilities in Japan

Japan and the United States are in close alignment regarding their threat perceptions of the regional security environment. This, in turn, leads some to assume that Japan would welcome an even broader array of U.S. military capabilities than are currently deployed in the country. However, the assumption that Japan will accommodate any change in U.S. force posture has been seldom explored in detail. This report does so with ten case studies.