WASHINGTON - You could call it Japan week in Washington – first, a “two-plus-two” meeting of the United States’ and Japan’s defence and foreign ministers, followed by a summit between President Joe Biden and Prime Minister Fumio Kishida on Friday.

But this year is a little different. Japan has only recently overhauled its National Security Strategy (NSS) to roughly double defence spending, and allow for long-range counterstrike capabilities in the event of being attacked – a fundamental change in posture and in alignment with its ally, the US.