The following is a chronology of events regarding the overseas dispatch of Self-Defense Forces units:

April 1991 -- Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweepers are sent to the Persian Gulf based on an expanded interpretation of the SDF law.

June 1992 -- Legislation is enacted to allow the SDF to join U.N. peacekeeping operations, while a law concerning Japan's international disaster relief activities is revised to allow SDF dispatches.

September -- SDF units take part in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Cambodia.

May 1993 -- SDF units join a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Mozambique.

September 1994 -- SDF units are sent to U.N. peacekeeping missions in Zaire and Kenya.

February 1996 -- SDF peacekeepers are dispatched to the Golan Heights.

September 1997 -- The New Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation agreement is signed, obliging Japan to provide logistic support to U.S. military operations in the event of emergencies "in areas surrounding Japan."

November 1998 -- SDF units are sent to hurricane-hit Honduras based on the revised international disaster relief law.

May 1999 -- Legislation to make domestic laws compatible with the new bilateral defense cooperation guidelines is enacted.

September -- MSDF ships depart on a disaster-relief mission to earthquake-hit Turkey.

November -- SDF units take part in a U.N. peacekeeping mission in East Timor.

February 2001 -- SDF units go to earthquake-hit India under the terms of the disaster relief law.

October -- SDF units are dispatched on U.N. humanitarian relief missions to Afghanistan. A law allowing the SDF to provide logistic support for U.S.-led military operations in Afghanistan is enacted.

November -- MSDF ships are sent to the Indian Ocean to provide fuel to U.S.-led forces.