The Argument is a new feature dedicated to promoting dialogue and deeper understanding of contentious issues by introducing various viewpoints.
From my long experience serving in the government, there is no way we can send more Self-Defense Forces vessels and planes to the waterways in the Middle East because they can do almost nothing, and it would be a mistake to dispatch the SDF under the dubious legal basis of "research and investigation."
In emergency scenarios, like attacks on Japanese commercial vessels and tankers, the government could activate the maritime policing measure under the Self-Defense Forces Law to protect those vessels. But if the attacker is the military of a third country or such an equivalent, the SDF can only engage in self-defense and cannot resort to the use of force to protect Japanese vessels in reality because such an act is banned by the Constitution.