Why is Japan increasing its military spending?

#48: With Mariko Togashi, Ken Jimbo, Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp

Feb 2, 2023

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Japan was reluctant to invest heavily in defence for many decades after the end of WWII. Late last year, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a new National Security Strategy which includes a plan for significant defence spending increases and the acquisition of a “counterstrike capability.” While this is not a revolution in Japanese security policy, these plans go further than the government of Shinzo Abe ever did.

Mariko Togashi is a Research Fellow for Japanese Security and Defence Policy at the International Institute for Strategic Studies. She previously served as the API Matsumoto-Samata Fellow at the Asia Pacific Initiative

“Japan will increase its defense budget to 2% of GDP in the next five years for fundamental reinforcement of its defense capabilities, as the security environment is changing in the Indo-Pacific. There are increased attempts to unilaterally change the status quo, such as China’s military expansion and North Korea’s repeated launch of missiles. Japan’s strategy is to counter China with allies and partners and promote a free and open Indo-Pacific by convening all state power, including diplomacy, military, and economy. Its own military capability has been the missing piece in Japan’s national power for too long.”

Ken Jimbo is a Managing Director at the International House of Japan. He previously served as a Special Advisor to the Minister of Defense of Japan

“Japan is facing three major frontlines of defense - China, North Korea, and Russia. With increasing demand in responding to defense challenges of various kinds and growing awareness of urgency in the crisis over Taiwan, Japan has decided to reinforce its defense capability fundamentally. This includes long-range strike capability that is expected to expand the geographical scope of defense for SDF and support the U.S. military operation in the region.”

Elli-Katharina Pohlkamp is a Visiting Fellow of the Asia Programme at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She previously worked as a Japan Analyst based in Munich

“It is a bold response to Japan’s deteriorating security environment and threats in Northeast Asia, in particular from China. The increasing presence of foreign militaries around Japan accompanied by the growing pace of new military capabilities, have highlighted Japan’s vulnerabilities: it risks falling behind and that modernization is necessary and inevitable. It is the implementation of a discussion about improvements that has been ongoing since the end of the Cold War, the reinforcement of the Abe Doctrine Legacy and the recognition that Japan is willing to keep pace, have the capacity to engage and actively boost its defense resilience.”