In a break from post-war pacifism, Japan has scrapped its ban on arms exports to make way for overseas sales of fighter aircraft, missiles, and warships. Facing an increasingly assertive China and an unreliable United States, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is expanding and diversifying the country’s defence and security partnerships.

In a break from post-war pacifism, Japan on Tuesday scrapped its ban on arms exports to make way for overseas sales of fighter aircraft, missiles, and warships.

In a statement issued after the Cabinet approved the change, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said no country could ensure its peace and security on its own and that nations increasingly needed partners who could support each other, including through defence equipment.

Takaichi said the new rules would allow “all defence equipment” to be sold abroad whereas the previous framework permitted only the export of non-combat equipment and technologies from five non-combat categories of rescue, transport, warning, surveillance, and minesweeping.

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In an apparent reference to China, Takaichi said the rules had been amended as Japan’s security environment had grown “increasingly severe”.

This marks the latest and most significant departure from Japan’s post-World War II pacifist stance. It comes at a time when
China has become increasingly aggressive towards Japan, mounting economic reprisals after Takaichi committed to Taiwan’s defence.

William Yang, a Senior Analyst for Northeast Asia at the International Crisis Group, told The Telegraph that the change “marks a fundamental pivot away from the long-standing pacifist constitution that Japan has embraced since the end of World War Two”.

“We shouldn’t underplay how important this will be. Over the last few decades, Japan has been secluded from the global defence and arms supply markets, and cautious about ensuring it sticks to the pacifist approach set out in its constitution. Japan now sees a need to take a more proactive role to ensure the security and safety of its immediate neighbourhood, and to make sure that like-minded allies can stay on track with their military modernisation efforts.”

Japan looks beyond the US to shore up defence

Facing an increasingly assertive China in the region and an unreliable United States as its principal ally,
Takaichi is expanding and diversifying the country’s defence and security partnerships. The decision came days after Japan welcomed 30 Nato envoys and signed a $6.5 billion deal to supply warships to Australia.

The shift has been years in the making but has accelerated in recent months as China has been emboldened by the American withdrawal from the Indo-Pacific under President Donald Trump. That withdrawal has coincided with China forming an alliance-like partnership with Russia and North Korea, threatening Japan’s core interests in the region. As a result, Takaichi has moved to deepen ties with countries such as Australia to tackle these challenges.

Under the new rules, Japanese companies will be able to sell lethal weapons directly to 17 countries with which Japan has defence agreements, allowing the sale of advanced frigates to the Philippines and submarines to Indonesia, according to the New York Times.

With the Philippines frequently at the receiving end of Chinese aggression in the region, the amendment allows Takaichi to assemble a bloc of nations concerned about Chinese activities and encourage closer collaboration in the defence sector.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS ADHow Japan changed its stance over the years

The shift has been in the making for years. In 2022, Japan broke ranks with the United States to join the United Kingdom and Italy in the Global Combat Air Programme (GCAP) to develop a sixth-generation stealth fighter aircraft. Until then, Japan had relied exclusively on American platforms such as the F-15 and F-35.

In 2014, under Takaichi’s mentor, Shinzo Abe, Japan amended its rules to allow weapons exports for international security efforts, including United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions, ending an absolute ban that had been in place for five decades.

In 2023, Japan approved the sale of advanced air defence systems to the United States, helping it replenish stockpiles at a time when it was supporting Ukraine in its fight against Russia’s full-scale invasion.

First Published:
April 21, 2026, 09:16 IST

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