As Japan seeks ‘normal country’ status, its US Patriot missile deal, record defence budget rankle pacifists

The move by Japan to play a bigger role in international security could compromise its long-standing pacifist stance and hurt welfare spending

But Tokyo may have to make such ‘controversial political decisions’ as it aims to boost its defence capabilities, analysts say

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Japanese soldiers from the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade take part in a marine landing drill on Tokunoshima island in November. Photo: Reuters

Published: 9:30am, 8 Jan 2024Updated: 10:34am, 8 Jan 2024

In a historic policy shift, Japan is boosting its defence spending to its highest level ever and easing lethal weapon exports in a bid to play a bigger role in international security, but analysts say this could hurt welfare spending and compromise a pacifist stance that many Japanese still hold dear.

To fund the country’s short-term increase in defence spending, the government will have little choice but to make “controversial political decisions” such as reducing welfare spending, according to experts. But in the long term, Tokyo will also have to revitalise its defence industry to secure funding for it.

On December 22, Japan approved a 16.5 per cent increase in its 2024 defence spending to a record 7.95 trillion yen (US$55 billion), with a focus on missile-strike capabilities.

Tokyo also removed certain restrictions on the export of lethal weapons, allowing Japanese manufacturers to supply such armaments and components made domestically under foreign licences to licensing nations.

That same day, Tokyo approved a request from Washington for the production of Patriot surface-to-air guided missiles in Japan under an American licence and the sale of these weapons to the United States, reportedly to make up for the superpower’s decreasing inventory.