A senior Defense Agency official looked excited as the aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk prepared for its Sept. 21 departure from the Yokosuka Naval Base in Kanagawa Prefecture with an escort of Maritime Self-Defense Force ships.
He said the image of the carrier being escorted by MSDF ships represented the strong security ties between Japan and the United States.
This is a "show of the flag," he said, citing the term U.S. Deputy Secretary of Defense Richard Armitage reportedly used when asking Japanese Ambassador to the U.S. Shuji Yanai for Japan's cooperation in an expected U.S.-led "war" against terrorism.