Currently the Japanese constitution does not allow the sale of Japanese made weapons to other countries.  It does not allow Japanese troops to be used outside Japan, although the government got around this by ordering their troops not to carry weapons on ‘peacekeeping’ missions.

Japan’s new policy chief Seiji Maehara, is recommending changing the constitution to relax criteria for weapons use by Japanese Self-Defense Forces taking part in UN peacekeeping operations.  He says Japanese troops could help the U.S. by being able to actually fight alongside U.S. forces.

Also, Maehara claims that without letting the Japanese military industry sell weapons to other countries, and take part in advanced weapons development with countries like the United States, Japan’s military defenses could become technologically outdated.