U.S. nuclear sub's visit to Yokosuka is show of ties as Japan tackles defense reform

The USS Michigan is an 18,000-ton demonstration of deepening U.S.-Japan military ties against the backdrop of an increasingly muscular China.

Equipped with about 150 Tomahawk cruise missiles, the 170-meter nuclear-powered submarine glided into the port of Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, earlier this month. The floating display of strike capability arrived just 50 km from Tokyo as Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was preparing to ram legislation through the Diet to let Japan defend its only formal ally.

The legal changes back up his 2014 reinterpretation of the nation's pacifist Constitution and would allow Japanese forces to fulfill guidelines set in April on expanding cooperation with the U.S. around the world.