Japan’s legendary traditional warrior—the ‘Samurai’—has taken a rebirth and is soon to be armed with the famed ‘katana’ sword, implying the quite rise of a major military power in the Far East.
On Tuesday, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s cabinet gave the green signal to the abolition of the restriction on ‘five categories’ of defence exports that include rescue, transport, surveillance, warning and minesweeping equipment.
This policy measure signals governmental clearance to allow Japan not just to manufacture but also to export lethal and offensive weapons and platforms like fighter aircraft, tanks, warships like destroyers and frigates, missiles, and combat drones, among others—a break from the pacifist ideology of the nation that was imposed on the island nation after its defeat in the Second World War. Though officially, it hasn’t given up the pacifist tag, functionally, things have substantially changed.
While the exports can be made to only a group of 17 ‘friendly’ nations, including India, there are provisions for exceptions, keeping in mind Japan’s national interest.
The move is the logical culmination of an earlier effort to revise the ‘restrictions’ by March 2026.
It is a landmark move because under Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, effective from May 3, 1947, Japan had to permanently renounce war as a sovereign right and had given up organising land, sea, or air forces. While eschewing the use of force in international disputes, technically, Japan was allowed defensive, non-war forces.
What it also means is that Japan can stop labelling its military agencies as self-defence forces.
The move to acquire defence equipment assumes significance in the backdrop of a series of aggressive actions by China’s growing military, including belligerence over Taiwan and the threat posed by North Korea.
What is notable is that Japan has nearly doubled its defence budget to two per cent now, or about $70 billion, from its earlier cap of 1one per cent in 1976.
The timing of the move is also replete with significance. This is a time when US military production is under tremendous pressure because of persistent demand for the supply of weapons, military platforms and systems for the wars in Ukraine and West Asia.
On the other hand, the US’ allies, including European nations, are trying to diversify their procurement sources and not just rely on the US, whose policies under President Trump have lacked the consistency of the past.
Moreover, quite a few countries have undertaken efforts to modernise their militaries in the backdrop of tectonic shifts in global geostrategic affairs, making Japan a clear potential source for weapons.