Japan has lifted a post-war ban on weapons exports as it moves away from a pacifist stance that has defined its defence policy since the end of the Second World War.
Sanae Takaichi, Japan’s prime minister, announced the plans after a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, writing on X that the change was necessary given the “increasingly challenging security environment”.
As it stands, exports of Japanese-made defence equipment and technology are limited to five non-combat categories – rescue, transport, warning, surveillance and minesweeping.
But, boosted by a sweeping election victory in February, Ms Takaichi’s government has removed these restrictions.
This opens sales of lethal systems, such as destroyers and missiles, to 17 countries which already have defence co-operation agreements with Tokyo, including the UK. Some restrictions will continue, including the sale of lethal weapons to countries in active combat.
“In an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone, and partner countries that support each other in terms of defence equipment are necessary,” said Ms Takaichi.
Buoyed by a landslide election victory, Sanae Takaichi, the Japanese prime minister, plans to open sales of lethal systems – Kiyoshi Ota/Reuters
William Yang, a senior analyst on north-east Asia at the International Crisis Group think tank, said 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,” he said. “Over the last few decades, Japan has been secluded from the global defence and arms supplies markets, and cautious about ensuring it sticks to the pacifist approach in its constitution.”
But Tokyo’s perception of security threats has changed. China’s maritime expansion across Asia has set off alarm bells, while the United States’ capability to maintain a defence posture in the continent has been thrown into doubt by ongoing conflicts elsewhere.
“Japan 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,” said Mr Yang.
Reports suggest that one of the first deals likely to be approved by the Takaichi government will be with the Philippine navy, which regularly confronts Beijing in the South China Sea. It is set to purchase used frigates, possibly followed by missile defence systems.
Japanese media outlets have reported that Indonesia and Vietnam are also interested in similar purchases.
The government has pushed the rules already. On Saturday, Tokyo also signed a landmark $6bn (£4.5bn) deal with Australia to supply 11 Mogami-class warships – advanced stealth frigates equipped with a potent array of weapons. It is Japan’s largest defence contract in the post-war era.
“The security environment forced the issue, and the domestic politics finally caught up,” said Andrew Koch, the founder of Nexus Pacific, a Tokyo-based defence-industry advisory.
However, he added that the policy had been gradually shifting for years. Efforts to ease the rules began with Shinzo Abe, the late prime minister and Ms Takaichi’s mentor, while the first postwar lethal export took place in December 2023, when Patriot missiles were sent back to the US.
“Each piece on its own looks incremental,” Mr Koch told The Telegraph. “Taken together, Japan has stopped being a consumer of security and is poised to become a producer of it.”
Japan is re-positioning itself as a producer, rather than a consumer, of security – The Asahi Shimbun/Getty Images
There is already strong interest from Asia and beyond. Masahiko Arai, a senior vice-president at Mitsubishi Electric’s defence unit, told Reuters that “offers are coming from everywhere”, and the company has been adding staff in London and Singapore to facilitate defence exports.
The government has also argued that opening up the defence industry – which has until now been reliant on domestic spending – could help boost economic growth. Mr Arai said Mitsubishi expected defence sales to triple to roughly $3.8bn (£2.8bn) by 2031.
“Globally, the next big muscle movement in allied deterrence will be building industrial capacity and supply chains that don’t run through China,” said Mr Koch. “For both of those, Japan becomes an indispensable ally… the harder question is whether Japan’s industrial base can actually scale fast enough to matter in the timeframe deterrence requires.”
Mr Yang added: “It’s not only just traditional US allies in Asia looking for Japan as an alternative supplier of advanced weapons systems. European countries are also looking to Japan because of the same backlog in the US industrial pipeline, and the US capacity to supply much-needed weapons.”
‘Iron Lady’ also eyes constitutional change
For Ms Takaichi, who is known as Japan’s Iron Lady, easing restrictions is not the only change in her sights. At her party’s annual conference earlier this month, she said the time had come to revisit the constitution, and suggested that proposals for change could be put forward in 2027.
But although she may have the votes to push through constitutional amendments after securing a three-quarters majority in the lower house in February, many in Japan view constitutional reform as much more extreme than boosting defensive abilities and partnerships.
Addressing these concerns on Tuesday, Ms Takaichi stressed that “there is absolutely no change in our commitment to upholding the path and fundamental principles we have followed as a peace-loving nation for over 80 years since the war”.
Mr Yang said: “There’s a long-standing, self-imposed pacifism mindset among Japanese people, which is why I think Takaishi is focusing on lifting the export of weapons as a first step. She understands that it will take longer to build a social consensus around changing the specific clauses in Japan’s pacifist constitution.
“Meanwhile, the export of lethal weapons can always be packaged as beefing up Japan’s industry and economy. The ruling party will be tracking the response to any upcoming announcement closely.”
Beijing’s anger at ‘reckless’ move
China reacted angrily to the announcement on Tuesday, vowing to resist what it called Japan’s “reckless militarisation”.
Guo Jiakun, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, told a news briefing: “The international community, including China, will remain highly vigilant on this, and firmly resist Japan’s reckless new-style militarisation.”
In a sign of Japan’s mounting security concerns, Tokyo also sent a contingent of 1,400 soldiers to take part in the annual Balikatan war games for the first time this week. Held in and by the Philippines, along with the US, the 17-day exercises this year are the largest ever, featuring some 17,000 soldiers.
In a separate military exercise in Japan’s south-western Oita region on Tuesday, an explosion in a tank killed three soldiers, according to Ms Takaichi, who said an investigation into the “truly regrettable” accident was under way.
Meanwhile, Ms Takaichi sent a ritual offering on Tuesday to a shrine honouring the country’s war dead that has long angered neighbouring countries, but did not visit in person.
The Yasukuni Shrine, in central Tokyo, is dedicated to 2.5 million war dead, mostly Japanese, who perished in conflicts since the late 19th century – including senior military and political figures convicted by an international tribunal of war crimes before and during the Second World War against China and Korea.
A Japanese prime minister has not visited the shrine since 2013, but Ms Takaichi’s predecessors Shigeru Ishiba and Fumio Kishida regularly sent offerings for the biannual spring and autumn festivals.
Abe visited the shrine in 2013, provoking fury in Beijing and Seoul and earning a rare diplomatic rebuke from close ally the US.
On Tuesday, South Korea expressed “deep disappointment and regret” over Ms Takaichi’s offering.