Takaichi Moves to Unleash Japan’s Long-Stifled Defense Industry
Japanese companies have, little by little, been cracking the door open to more defense exports. A new political coalition is now poised to kick it all the way down.
The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) helicopter-carrying destroyer Izumo with its bow cut off for conversion into an aircraft carrier in Yokohama City.
Photographer: Atsushi Takedatsu/Yomiuri Shimbun/AP
Japan is taking off the gloves as it seeks to become an international arms powerhouse amid a political realignment under new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who has embraced a coalition partner eager for major defense liberalization.
Takaichi’s Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Innovation Party plan to roll back restrictions on defense exports, build weapons factories and accelerate investment in the nation’s military. Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi on Friday convened a meeting of senior ministry officials to discuss a successor to a five-year defense spending plan that runs through 2027, as well as updates to the national security and national defense strategies.