The House of Councilors passed and enacted a number of bills Thursday, including one that allows Japanese authorities to inspect foreign vessels within or beyond its territorial waters as part of international economic sanctions and another outlawing human cloning.
The bill that permits the Self-Defense Forces to search foreign vessels on the high seas was cleared by the ruling coalition -- the Liberal Democratic Party, New Komeito and the New Conservative Party -- as well as the main opposition Democratic Party of Japan during an Upper House plenary session.
The Upper House Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense had approved the bill earlier in the day.