The ramming of the beefed-up antipiracy bill Friday through the Diet left the impression that deploying the Self-Defense Forces overseas is no longer a cause for public debate.
Some experts fear the trend could carry over to other crucial issues, including another pending bill for inspecting North Korean vessels at sea.
"The dispatch of the SDF is being accepted too easily, in the name of international cooperation," said Motofumi Asai, president of the Hiroshima Peace Institute, a research center at Hiroshima City University.