Japan’s Self-Defense Force Personnel Attend Flag Returning Ceremony In Tokyo Upon Returning From Peacekeeping Mission In Golan Heights

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, right, and Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera attend the flag returning ceremony by Japan’s Self-Defense Forces involved in U.N. peacekeeping operations in the Israeli-held Golan Heights at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013. The 47-member unit returned the team’s flag upon coming back to Japan after the government ordered withdrawal due to worsening security conditions in Syria, concluding Japan’s longest-running PKO since 1996.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, third from left, watches as Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera, second from right, receives a flag from Maj. Fumihiro Kayanuma, right, who led Japan’s Self-Defense Forces involved in U.N. peacekeeping operations in the Israeli-held Golan Heights, during a flag returning ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013.

Japan’s Self-Defense Forces personnel involved in U.N. peacekeeping operations in the Israeli-held Golan Heights listen to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during a flag returning ceremony at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo Sunday, Jan. 20, 2013. <AP Photo/Itsuo Inouye>