Japan has dispatched a destroyer to the Middle East on an intelligence-gathering mission, saying it is aimed at ensuring oil shipments from the region. The helicopter destroyer Takanami on Sunday departed Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo for the Gulf of Oman, through which flows some 90 percent of Japan's oil. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe saw off the destroyer at the Maritime Self-Defense Force’s (MSDF) base in a departure ceremony ...