The decision to send Self-Defense Forces engineers to South Sudan on a peacekeeping mission may win approval from international allies, but domestically there are concerns about safety in a country rife with conflict.
The dispatch may also rekindle arguments about whether changes are needed to the law restricting the use of force by SDF personnel, which could then entail debate on possible amendments to the pacifist Constitution.
The administration of Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda on Nov. 1 approved a plan to send a Ground Self-Defense Force engineering unit to South Sudan, which gained independence in July following a long civil war. They will join the U.N. peacekeeping operation, helping to build roads and bridges in the capital, Juba, over a five-year period.