Rupakjyoti Borah

Opinion | Japan’s defence spending boost is inevitable in the face of security challenges

The security environment around Japan has changed in the past few years, given the threats from China, Russia and North Korea, and Tokyo is left with few options in response. This hefty new outlay could be a preview of things to come

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Military vessels including Japan’s Maritime Self-Defence Force’s largest carrier Izumo (centre) sailing in Sagami Bay during the International Fleet Review on November 6. Japan has announced on December 16 its biggest defence overhaul in decades, raising spending, reshaping its military command and acquiring new missiles to tackle the threat from China. Photo: AFP

Rupakjyoti Borah

Published: 9:30pm, 28 Dec 2022

The massive new draft defence outlay proposed by Japan is a move many analysts thought would come sooner or later. So when the Kishida administration agreed to allocate 43 trillion yen (US$323.4 billion) for defence spending between 2023 and 2027 – a 50 per cent increase from the current five-year budget – it means Tokyo finally has decided to bite the bullet.

When this budget is approved by the Japanese parliament, Tokyo will use it to purchase US-made Tomahawks while its home-grown Mitsubishi Heavy Industry will upgrade and mass-produce a Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missile. The upgraded version of the Type 12 missiles will see their range increase from 200km to more than 1,000km, which will bring large parts of China in range.

In addition, Japan is moving ahead with a next-generation fighter project in collaboration with the UK and Italy. Tokyo will also purchase the 500km range Joint Strike Missile from Norway for its F-35A fighters and will arm its upgraded F-15s with Lockheed Martin’s Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile with a range of about 900km.

Article 9 of Japan’s Constitution states that “the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes”. The country has come a long way since then, though. In the light of the changes in the regional geopolitical environment, even the United States is encouraging Japan to play a more proactive role.

There are several reasons for this. First, China’s behaviour in Japan’s immediate neighbourhood has Tokyo worried. This was especially seen in the aftermath of US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s visit to Taiwan in August, when a barrage of missiles fired by China landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).

Second, Japan has to contend with the threat from North Korea, which has also fired a barrage of missiles recently. These have landed in Japan’s EEZ and in some cases flown over Japan.

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