US and Japan 'seamlessly' join armed forces

While sky-watchers in Tokyo enjoyed a total eclipse of the moon on Wednesday night, Daniel Russel and his entourage from the United States enjoyed themselves too. Japanese Defense Minister Akinori Eto threw a dinner in honor of the US assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific affairs to celebrate the framework they have worked out for the new Japan-US defense cooperation guidelines.

The interim report, published that day, highlights swift and robust responses to "gray zone" scenarios that do not qualify as direct attacks, and calls for seamless cooperation between Japan's Self-Defense Forces and US forces in response to both peacetime and military contingencies.

The word "seamless" appears seven times in the five-page report, and it epitomizes the landmark change in the security cooperation that Japan and the United States will develop in the future.