The leaders of Australia and Japan agreed today to boost cooperation between their militaries, as Japan tries to shore up security ties throughout the Asia-Pacific region amid concern over China’s growing military might.

Now there are serious decisions that need to be made in the coming months and years by Japanese foreign policy makers. Both an independent and new foreign policy for Japan in different parts of the world and a new approach to the alliance system with the U.S. may be necessary. Globetrotting may make Japan more visible up to a certain point. 

On Saturday, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told an audience of African leaders at the sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD) in Kenya’s capital Nairobi that his country will spend $30 billion on infrastructure development, healthcare and education projects in Africa over the next three years:

As official Washington prepares for the late April visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his scheduled address to a joint session of Congress, many aspects of the bilateral relationship between the United States and Japan will rightly be feted, including a robust strategic alliance and significant economic ties between the two nations.