Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio’s state visit to the United States – highlighted by his meeting with U.S. President Joe Biden on April 10 – crystallizes the fundamental tenets of the Japanese post-war security architecture, while also affirming the new reorientations of the U.S. strategy for the Indo-Pacific. This comes at a time of significant … Read more
Japanese post-war pacifism reached its pinnacle in 1976. That year, the Miki Takeo administration adopted two measures representing the tide of the moment: a 1 percent cap on the annual defense budget per GNP, and a de facto ban on arms exports that applied to both allies and enemies alike. For a long time, both … Read more
Japanese pacifism runs deep. It is embedded in the Japanese Constitution. War-renouncing Article 9 is perhaps the best-known example, but pacifism is present from the outset of the document. The very first sentence of the preamble castigates “the horrors of war” and espouses the benefits of “peaceful cooperation with all nations.” Depending on the perspective, … Read more
To “achieve the most effective coordination” on co-developing next-generation fighters, Japan, Britain, and Italy have agreed to establish a new international body to expedite and oversee the process, based on a treaty signed by their respective defense ministers on December 14, 2023. The trilateral scheme aims to enhance the “national security” and “international influence” of … Read more
Asia Defense | Security | East Asia The LDP-Komeito coalition is working to overcome internal differences on loosening the existing restrictions. Advertisement On July 6, the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)-Komeito ruling coalition in Japan took another tentative step toward easing defense equipment export rules. A working group comprised of LDP and Komeito members produced an interim report that sets … Read more
Advertisement In December 2022, Japan announced a new National Security Strategy, including a significant increase of the defense budget and the acquisition of offensive weaponry. While the decision has been praised among the hawks of U.S. and transatlantic foreign policymaking, it is stirring up old ghosts of Japanese militarism in East Asia. At the same … Read more
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (third from left) meets with Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio (second from right) on the sidelines of the G-7 summit in Hiroshima, Japan, May 21, 2023. Credit: Prime Minister’s Office of Japan Advertisement No recent G-7 summit was filled with as much excitement as the latest gathering in Hiroshima. As G-7 … Read more
In a ceremony held at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on May 24, 2023, State Minister of Defense Ino Toshiro handed to Ukraine’s ambassador to Japan the list of materials to be sent in the coming months. Credit: Takahashi Kosuke Advertisement The G-7 Hiroshima Summit saw the group of wealthy democracies renew a pledge to … Read more
Advertisement Japanese Prime Minister Kishida Fumio appeared on the cover of the May 22-29 issue of Time magazine, with the headline stating that Kishida “wants to abandon decades of pacifism – and make his country a true military power.” Uncomfortable with the text, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued an objection to the publication. … Read more