In our Nikkei op-ed, Elbridge Colby and I argue that the worsening of Japan’s threat environment means Japan needs to take on a larger security role: shedding its longtime restraint. We compare Japan to West Germany: a country that, in the 1950s, faced a serious security threat, so despite its trauma, fears, and hesitations, did what needed to be done to increase deterrence to protect its own security. And it did so in a way consistent with the values of a responsible, democratic country.