Japan’s Kishida to address Congress as its military role expands

WASHINGTON — Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s address to a joint meeting of Congress Thursday, along with the White House’s red-carpet welcome for a state visit, is expected to underline how much the ground has shifted to bring the two nations closer together in a way that few thought possible when a previous Japanese leader gave his own historic address to Congress nearly a decade ago.

The climate surrounding Kishida’s speech is remarkably different owing to successive governments moving Japan away from self-imposed pacifist polices that restricted its military capabilities and its ability to be a true mutual defense partner of the U.S.; a worsening pattern of coercive and belligerent actions by China and Russia; and the Biden administration’s efforts to build and strengthen what officials call a “latticework” of Indo-Pacific defense alliances and coalitions.