Bu Zhu Xiaoqi

The Japanese government recently approved the supplementary budget of FY2025, which granted an additional 847.2 billion yen ($5.4 billion) for its Ministry of Defense. Combined with relevant funding and the initial budget, Japan's total defense spending of the current fiscal year has reached a record high of 11 trillion yen, which has correspondingly increased to 2% of its GDP. Dominated by its Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, Japan is accelerating its military expansion.

Among the supplementary budget, around a quarter will be used to improve the welfare of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) personnel and maintain military facilities to mitigate the increasingly severe challenge in recruitment. The remaining three quarters will be invested in enhancing its military power development, purchasing frigates, submarines, missiles and other equipment to promote its warfighting capabilities on the one hand, and facilitating the maintenance and preparation of relevant US installations on the other hand.

In 1976, the cabinet of former Prime Minister Takeo Miki decided to cap Japan's defense spending at no more than 1% of GDP based on the principles of Japan's pacifist Constitution. The red line of 1% of GDP has been adhered to by subsequent cabinets as a convention for many years. In recent years, however, the right-wing politicians in Japan have been hyping the "serious security environment" as an excuse to break free from related constraints. In 2022, Fumio Kishida's cabinet exceeded the 1% ceiling when compiling the budget for the FY2023, and planned to increase it to more than 2% of GDP in five years. Japan's "three security documents" passed in the same year explicitly defined the target of an increase to 2% of GDP in FY2027.

This supplementary budget has enabled Japan to achieve a "thirteenth consecutive increase" in  defense spending, and reach the original 2% target two years ahead of schedule. From FY 2023 to FY 2025, Japan's defense spending has leaped from 1.19 % of GDP to 2%, making its defense spending reach the military expenditure standards of NATO states. The JDSF is accelerating the transformation into a "military force" with extensive warfighting capabilities, representing a trend completely deviating from the principles of its pacifist Constitution.

Since taking office as Japan's Prime Minister, Sanae Takaichi has made every effort to ease the restrictions on its military. In addition to codifying the objective of abolishing the relevant provisions of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology during the regular session of the Diet in 2026 into the coalition agreement with the Japan Innovation Party (JIP), the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) has launched discussions on possible revisions of the Three Non-Nuclear Principles. At the same time, the LDP and JIP have reached a consensus on advancing the constitutional amendment process, attempting to completely break free from the constraints of the pacifist Constitution.

At the historical juncture marking the 80th anniversary of the victory of the World Anti-Fascist War, the Japanese authorities, turning a blind eye to historical lessons, have continuously broken the tether of the pacifist Constitution, signaling the comeback of militarism. Japan's dangerous moves of accelerating its military expansion and war preparation directly challenge the post-war international order and undermine regional peace and stability. Only by deeply reflecting on its history of aggression and abiding by the pacifist Constitution can Japan win the trust of its Asian neighbors and the international community and achieve true peace and security. Should the Japanese side refuse to correct its course and stray even farther down the wrong path, it will surely pay a heavy price and cannot escape the reckoning of history and justice.