The Ground Self-Defense Force dispatch to Iraq has been viewed overseas by some as a significant political move by Japan to boost the role of its military on the international stage.
But for foreign journalists who watched Tokyo's response to the Iraq war over the past year, perceptions vary.
Those who spoke to The Japan Times on the first anniversary of the start of the U.S.-led war on Iraq said political developments in Japan received considerable media coverage in their home countries, but the focus differed, depending in part on the nations' own political situations.