As an addendum to the soon-to-be released Seijigiri #36, the ball has started rolling. It’s now up to the DPJ-controlled House of Councillors to decide whether they want to reject the bill or not. If they do, it is likely that the LDP-New Komeito coalition will use its supermajority in House of Representatives to ram it through, which will then leave the DPJ deciding whether or not they want to pass a censure motion against Prime Minister Fukuda. The possible scenarios are discussed in depth in Seijigiri #36.

From Kyodo:

◆ Refueling mission bill clears lower house
TOKYO, Nov. 12 KYODO
The ruling bloc-dominated House of Representatives passed a contentious government-sponsored bill at a plenary session Tuesday to resume Japan’s refueling mission in the Indian Ocean in support of U.S.-led antiterrorism operations in and around Afghanistan.
The bill, the first major task of Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda’s administration, will be sent immediately to the House of Councillors. But the prospects for its passage in the upper chamber are slim as the opposition camp, which opposes the bill, controls a majority in it.
The bill passed during the lower house plenary session by a majority vote on the part of members of the ruling coalition of Fukuda’s Liberal Democratic Party and the New Komeito party.
The bill’s passage in the more powerful lower house is a key achievement for Fukuda ahead of his first trip as prime minister to the United States, Japan’s closest ally, for talks with President George W. Bush on Friday. Fukuda took office in September.
The United States and other countries taking part in the antiterrorism operations have repeatedly urged Japan to resume the refueling mission.
But the bill’s clearance in the lower chamber could lead to further political turmoil, many lawmakers predict.
The opposition camp, led by the Democratic Party of Japan, is gearing up to vote down the bill in the upper house.
On Tuesday morning, the DPJ panel on foreign affairs and defense discussed an outline of envisaged legislation eyeing dispatches of Self-Defense Force troops for nonmilitary aid operations in Afghanistan with a view to presenting it to parliament as a counterproposal to the bill.
If the upper house rejects or fails to vote on the refueling bill within 60 days, the bill, in a rare move, could be sent back to the lower chamber and become law with a two-thirds majority ballot in a second vote.
Attention will be focused on whether the ruling camp holds a second vote in the lower house as the lawmakers said that this could raise tension between the ruling and opposition camps and prompt the latter to adopt a censure motion against Fukuda in the upper house.
The bill in question is for a temporary one-year law that would authorize Japanese logistical support for the U.S.-led antiterrorism operations while limiting the mission to the provision of oil and water.
Japanese vessels halted refueling operations in the Indian Ocean on Nov. 1, the day the previous law authorizing the mission expired.
The bill passed the lower house committee on antiterrorism and Iraq reconstruction affairs Monday with the LDP and the New Komeito voting for it. The opposition camp voted against the bill or abstained.
==Kyodo