For the first time in its history, Japan's Self-Defense Force is crossing its own borders not as a defensive force, but as a force of relief — sending three CH-47 helicopters and some 600 personnel to Indonesia, where wildfires are consuming the landscape and overwhelming local capacity. Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi framed the mission as a response to a formal Indonesian request, pledging that Japan would do everything possible to contain the damage. In this deployment, carried aboard the transport vessel Kunisaki, Japan is quietly redefining what a military can mean to its neighbors — no