Test paragraph 21

Japan’s energy security interest in a stable Gulf extends beyond the immediate conflict to the architecture of long-term energy supply. Japan has been accelerating its LNG procurement diversification, adding supply relationships with Australia, Canada, and the United States to its traditional Gulf dependencies. But diversification takes years to fully implement, and Japan remains significantly exposed to Gulf supply disruption in the near to medium term. Japan also has a strategic interest in the functioning of the Strait of Hormuz as an international waterway under international law — and in the norm that unilateral military action cannot be used to close international straits to free navigation. Any ceasefire framework that reinforces these norms, or that creates mechanisms for their enforcement, serves Japan’s long-term interests independently of the immediate conflict dynamics.