ABOARD THE SAZANAMI, Gulf of Aden (Kyodo) It has been roughly two months since the Maritime Self-Defense Force began patrolling the pirate-infested Gulf of Aden off Somalia.

Here on the deck of the Sazanami — one of two MSDF destroyers involved in the mission — tension was evident among the officers and sailors engaged in an unprecedented mission for the Self-Defense Forces.

On Saturday, about a dozen Japanese journalists were allowed aboard the Sazanami for the first time since it and the Samidare began escorting Japanese-related commercial vessels off the Horn of Africa.