Last week, the world witnessed Prime Ministers Fumio Kishida and Scott Morrison conduct a signing ceremony for the Reciprocal Access Agreement (RAA), a milestone document aimed at further institutionalizing security cooperation between Australia and Japan.
Meanwhile, officials from the United States and Japan held a ministerial-level meeting, signed a new cost-sharing agreement and worked through issues related to COVID-19 and U.S. bases throughout the country.
The events from last week demonstrated contrast in Japan's security relationships. One from a burgeoning alignment, still in its fledgling stages but boldly blazing a trail for others to follow. The other from an alliance tempered over the course of 70 years, weathered by external and domestic crises both political and practical in nature.
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