Grant Newsham is a Senior Research Fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies in Tokyo. He is a former U.S. diplomat and a retired U.S. Marine colonel. He was the first USMC liaison officer to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force. Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Global Studies, at the College of Economics and International Trade, Pusan National University, and an Adjunct Fellow at the Pacific Forum CSIS. Koh Swee Lean Collin is Research Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies based in Singapore.

Image: JS Ise, Haruyuki and Abukuma in the East China Sea after Keen Sword 2013. Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Navy