The key point of concern here is that Article 9, the 1% GDP defence budget cap and non-nuclear principles combined to allay the fears of regional powers that Japan might attempt to return to its colonial past. And the Japanese defence ministry is effectively supplying logistical materials to Ukrainian forces in a combat zone. Remarkably, the JSDF also now has permanent operations bases as far away as the Horn of Africa. Japan’s military spending (already the ninth highest on the planet) itself evidently contradicts the clause. This includes further attempts to justify what already seemingly amount to violations of Article 9. ![]() Today, Japan is fervently supporting the Biden administration’s package of punitive sanctions against Russia and increased aid to Ukraine. Members of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) on parade, November 2021. But since changes to the constitution’s interpretation ratified in 2015, Japan’s foreign policy has increasingly resembled that of a great power. On paper this supposedly maintains a so-called “cap in the bottle” of militarisation. It also paves the way for Japan to contribute billions of dollars to an arms and security infrastructure industry that is booming in the wake of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine.Īll this while Article 9 of the constitution remains unaltered in Japanese law. The latest rise in defence spending is combined with deepening interoperability between US military units and the JSDF. It also raises concerns of entrapment into American proxy wars and increasing economic involvement in the US “military-industrial complex”, the system by which the defence sector encourages arms spending and war. But with America seemingly overstretched and in decline, Tokyo’s move to strengthen its military and deepen the alliance poses questions about Japan’s security identity. In the current era, relations with Washington have been paramount. These have fluctuated dramatically, from imperial aggressor (1930s) to pacifist (1950s) and middle power (2000s). Since its rise to international prominence after the Meiji Restoration and victory in the first Sino-Japanese war (1895), Japan has gone through a series of foreign policy shifts. But the timing and rationale behind this latest move are significant. The process of Japan’s remilitarisation has been going on since the immediate postwar period. To this day, the constitution and its anti-militarist Article 9 remain unchanged. This was thereafter combined with a notional 1% of GDP cap on defence spending, as well as three non-nuclear principles banning nuclear weapons being “produced, possessed or permitted entry”. ![]() The constitution prohibited the use of force and the maintenance of armed forces, despite the later creation of Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). Doubling its defence budget brings Japan in line with the benchmark for Nato countries’ military spending and positions Japan increasingly more as a genuine ally, rather than dependent, of the US in the region – a position it has held since American occupation forces drafted a “pacifist” constitution to prevent any recurrence of Japanese imperial ambitions. The US has been pressuring Japan for some time to increase its defence spending to share the security bill in the Asia-Pacific region. Defence minister Nobuo Kishi said the increase in spending was designed to give Japan “counterstrike capabilities” to defend against aggression in the region. Japan’s Liberal Democrat government said the decision, which it announced at the end of April, had been prompted by the conflict in Ukraine, but also reflected growing regional pressure from China, North Korea and Russia. This move – like recent pledges by Germany to massively increase its military spending in the wake of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine – brings the country full circle since it was militarily neutered following defeat in the second world war. Japan is proposing to double its defence budget to around £86 billion, or 2% of its GDP.
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