Friday's enactment of a new special law that will let the Maritime Self-Defense Force resume multilateral refueling operations in the Indian Ocean will also allow Japan to save face and avoid jeopardizing its relations with the U.S., analysts said.
"I think the White House is now relieved," said Satoshi Morimoto, a professor of international development at Takushoku University.
U.S. officials were becoming irritated with the time it was taking Tokyo to pass the crucial piece of legislation, after Japan was forced to withdraw the MSDF ships in November, ending six years of support for antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.