Japan and NATO's interests are increasingly aligned, although their links are still only symbolic.

As China's global security and economic footprint grows, the participation of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida in a NATO summit for the second consecutive year shows how Asia and Europe's strategic interests are increasingly convergent. However, since the relationship is still developing, Tokyo's role seems to be largely symbolic.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization's members have accepted Kishida's oft-re....