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Agencies

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has become the first Japanese leader in office to board a US aircraft carrier.
Abe on Sunday toured the nuclear-powered USS Ronald Reagan that arrived earlier this month at its new home port in Yokosuka, southwest of Tokyo.
The move is apparently aimed at showing off the two countries’ enhanced alliance following Japan’s recent enactment of new security laws that for the first time since  the second world war will allow its troops to come to the aid of allies under armed attack.

Prior to the event Sunday, Abe said at a fleet review of the Maritime Self-Defence Force in Sagami Bay off Tokyo’s neighbouring Kanagawa Prefecture that the US flattop “is a ‘tomodachi’ (friend) who rushed to the rescue at the time of the Great East Japan Earthquake. I give it a hearty welcome.”
 The USS Ronald Reagan, which arrived October 1 at Yokosuka Naval Base, replacing the USS George Washington that left in May, was engaged in the US military’s Operation Tomodachi relief mission after the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami in northeastern Japan.
 “By highly hoisting the flag of proactive pacifism, I’m determined to contribute more than ever to world peace and prosperity,” Abe said, while urging Japanese troops to “further fulfill your duties in order to hand over to children a warless and peaceful Japan.”

 Joining the Japanese navy were vessels from India, South Korea, Australia, France and the United States, including the 333 metre-long USS Ronald Reagan. Altogether 50 vessels and 61 aircraft participated in the display, which is held every three years.
The fleet review was the first major display of Japanese military hardware since Abe won lawmaker approval for the new security legislation.  
Abe is pursuing a doctrine of collective self defence with allies meant to give his nation a bigger role in regional security in order to counterbalance the military power of an increasingly assertive China.

Beijing, which has strained ties with several Southeast Asian countries over territorial claims in the disputed South China Sea, has said it is wary of Japan’s changing defence posture.
The centerpiece of Japan’s naval line up was the Izumo helicopter carrier, Japan’s biggest warship since the second world war. The 248-metre long flat top, which was commissioned in May, is a highly visible example of how Japan is expanding its military capability to operate overseas.
The Maritime Self Defence Force designates it as a destroyer keeping it within the bounds of a pacifist constitution that forbids Japan from possessing the means to wage war such as force-projecting carriers.

In a signal the Japanese navy’s growing role in Asia will be accompanied by the US fleet’s wider engagement in the region, the US Navy sent Vice Admiral Nora Tyson commander of the powerful Eastern Pacific Third Fleet to join Abe on his ship.
Her presence comes after the US scrapped an administrative boundary running along the international date line in the Pacific that demarcates the operating areas for the Seventh and Third Fleets.
The change gives Tyson a command role in the western Pacific and will allow the US to deploy vessels quickly to trouble spots in the region, the Chief of the Naval Operations, John Richardson, said at a press briefing in Tokyo on Thursday.

"Admiral Tyson’s presence here is just a recognition that we are trying to be as flexible as possible to keep as many options on the table as possible so that we can be as responsive as possible," the US Navy’s most senior uniformed officer said.
The forward-deployed Seventh Fleet with some 80 vessels, including the USS Ronald Reagan is the most powerful naval force in the western Pacific. The Third Fleet, with its home port in San Diego, California includes four carrier strike groups.
Kyodo, Reuters


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Shinzo Abe becomes first Japanese leader in office to board a US aircraft carrier as Tokyo displays its naval power

The USS Ronald Reagan.  Photo: Reuters

The Japanese escort ship Kurama leads other vessels and aircraft in waters off Sagami Bay.  Photo: AP

The Uzushio submarine surfaces during the fleet review. Photo: Reuters

A Japanese P-3C Orion launches its anti-submarine payload.  Photo: EPA

The Izumo is Japan's biggest warship since the second world war.  Photo: AFP

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (C), Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Taro Aso (2nd R) and Defence Minister Gen Nakatani (2nd L) walk with Chris Bolt, the captain of the USS Ronald Reagan, a Nimitz-class nuclear-powered super carrier, as they visit the carrier at Sagami Bay.  Photo: Kyodo

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US sailors on the deck of the USS Ronald Reagan form the  Japanese greeting "Hajimemashite" meaning "nice to meet you" as the ship approaches its new home port. Photo: Kyodo

Crew members stand at attention on the carrier desk. Photo: Reuters 

The USS Ronald Reagan, carrying about 5,000 crewmembers, replaces the USS George Washington, which was the first US nuclear-powered warship based in Japan, where atomic weapons are a sensitive issue. Photo: Kyodo

A sailor reunites with his family after he arrives at the US naval base in Yokosuka. Photo: AFP

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