Ellis Krauss Quoted in The Los Angeles Times
Japanese troops train at Camp Pendleton for island defense
02/20/2011
Tony Perry and Yuriko Nagano,
The Los Angeles Times
Japanese troops from the Western Area Infantry Regiment are assaulting the green hills of Camp Pendleton in operation Iron Fist.
For a month, about 200 Japanese troops are training with Marines -- leading to a “final exam” where together they will launch a mock amphibious assault against a common enemy.
“Both sides are teaching and learning from each other,” said Marine Col. Michael Hudson, commander of the 11th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
This is not the first time Japan has sent troops here for training, but this year’s exercise appears larger, more militarily robust. Tanks are being used for the first time.
Japan’s latest defense policy calls for a new concept, called “dynamic proactive defense,” said Akihisa Nagashima, lower house member of the Democratic Party of Japan and former parliamentary vice minister of defense.
Click here to read the full article.
Related Links
Ellis Krauss is a leading expert on Japanese politics, U.S.-Japan relations, and Japan's political economy. In 2010 Cornell University Press will publish his latest book, co-authored with Robert Pekkanen of the University of Washington, The Rise and Fall of Japan's LDP: Political Party Organizations as Institutions.
He can provide commentary on domestic politics in Japan, the Japanese mass media, U.S.-Japan relations and Japan's foreign policy and role in Asia.
Similar Stories
- "Japanese troops train at Camp Pendleton for island defense" - The Sacramento Bee
