A member of the Japanese legislature’s upper chamber, the National Diet House of Councillors, on Tuesday called for the ruling coalition to export to Ukraine Patriot interceptor missiles to protect itself against Russian long-range strikes, and to remove “bureaucratic barriers” so that the weapons might protect Ukraine’s skies and civilian population as soon as possible. “Ukraine is desperately defending against indiscriminate missile attacks from Russia. However, it lacks enough interceptor missiles. As a result, this (the Russian strikes against Ukrainian homes and businesses) is causing many casualties,” said Councillor Shigefumi Matsuzawa during debate in Japan’s upper legislative body the House of Councillors, in its Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Japan’s ruling coalition is dominated by the Liberal Democratic Party (JDP) with the small Japan Innovation Party (JIP) as allies. The parties mostly share political platforms but sometimes split on issues like government reform and fiscal policy, with the JDP more conservative and cautious in its views and the JIP more supportive of domestic reform and proactive defense policy. Matsuzawa, a JIP delegate from Kawasaki city, in the industrial Kanagawa Prefecture, where he formerly served as the Prefectural governor, made the comments during questioning of Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on national policy on arms exports and cooperation with allied states.