Rearming Japan: Ambition, constraints, and limits

Originally published by Pacific Forum, this article is republished with permission. In barely half a year, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pushed Japan’s defense policy into unfamiliar territory. The FY2026 main defense budget has reached ¥9.04 trillion (approximately $58 billion), with total security-related spending at roughly ¥10.6 trillion, at about 1.9% of GDP. The 2% threshold, long treated as sensitive, has […] The post Rearming Japan: Ambition, constraints, and limits appeared fi...