Japan's Defense Ministry is busy preparing for the changing role of its Self-Defense Forces. In August, it requested the biggest-ever 5 trillion yen ($48 billion) budget for the fiscal year beginning in April 2015, a 3.5 percent increase from the current year. Part of the money will be used to buy F-35 stealth fighter jets, P-1 surveillance aircraft, Global Hawk drones and an Aegis radar-equipped destroyer, among others.

The moves are all part of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's push to give his country a greater military role.

Abe has stepped up his efforts, saying, "Japan's top foreign-policy priority must be to expand the country's strategic horizons." He is a peripatetic prime minister, especially by Japanese standards. Since his return to office, under the brand of "global diplomacy", he has traveled around Asia and visited Africa, Europe, North and South America, and Oceania to catalyze relationships. This forms part of a dedicated "networking" strategy whereby he seeks to weave a web of international support to buttress Japan's diplomatic, economic, and even security positions.

The US has long urged Japan to become a more equal, or, to be more exact, more contributory alliance partner. It has hailed the Japanese government's steps to ease restrictions on its military as "bold", "historical" and "landmark".

"Together, Japan's collective self-defense decision and the revised defense guidelines will allow Japan to participate more actively in areas such as ballistic missile defense, counter-proliferation, counter-piracy, peacekeeping, and a wide range of military exercises," US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said in Washington in July.

The new level of defense cooperation Japan and the US will have in peacetime and during emergencies marks a clear departure from the current guidelines, which spell out Japanese and US responsibilities separately for three circumstances: peacetime, contingencies in areas surrounding Japan, and emergencies involving Japan. Its new "seamless" security cooperation will create a strong US-Japan combined force.

This means that, in effect, Japan's Self-Defense Forces will become an extension of the US military.

The author is China Daily's Tokyo bureau chief. caihong@chinadaily.com.cn