Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's Cabinet is mulling how to respond to a possible U.S.-led military strike against Syria without authorization from the United Nations Security Council.
One day after returning from a six-day trip to the Middle East, Abe on Friday instructed his ministers to collect information on an alleged chemical weapons attack by the government of President Bashar Assad against his own people.
Meeting with Deputy Prime Minister Taro Aso, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida and Vice Defense Minister Akinori Eto, he also ordered them to prepare to protect Japanese nationals in the area should it become necessary.