After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in the United States, two things crossed the mind of Shotaro Yachi of the Foreign Ministry: Japan must join the international community in condemning the acts, and must do everything possible to help the anticipated U.S. military response.
As head of the Foreign Policy Bureau, Yachi was one of the key figures in drawing up Japan's overall response to the attacks, with the centerpiece being a new law allowing the Self-Defense Forces to be dispatched overseas -- in this case to provide logistic support for the U.S.-led campaign against the al-Qaeda terrorist network.
"From the beginning, I felt that Japan's contribution must be a visible one," Yachi said. "We needed SDF troops or ships appearing on television screens so that it would have a much bigger impact than any amount of money."