LAST July, the lower house of the Diet, Japan’s parliament, passed a package of security bills sponsored by the Liberal Democratic Party government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. After two months of debates and near-physical confrontations among lawmakers in parliament, and on the streets outside massive protest marches mainly of student and worker groups, the necessary passage of these bills by the Diet’s upper house finally happened on Saturday morning.

It was a victory for Mr. Abe, whose zealous push for the passage of these laws has caused him a steep fall in popularity.

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