By Xu Yilan and Chen Yue
Japan's domestic political landscape has witnessed a marked shift to the right in recent years. Right-wing forces represented by the Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi have been systematically advancing military normalization through a series of risky diplomatic and security maneuvers, in an attempt to reshape Japan into an offensive-capable state. Such actions have triggered widespread concern in the international community over a potential resurgence of Japanese militarism.
Japan has transformed the Japan-US alliance from a traditional defensive shield into a strategic instrument with clear offensive characteristics, and has embedded itself more deeply into the global military system of the US. This process has been particularly evident in the militarization of outer space and in coordinated intervention in regional affairs.
Under the pretext of "responding to threats," Japan has accelerated the militarization of outer space. In addition to participating in US space warfare exercises and sharing space situational awareness data, Japan plans to take part in the development of Washington's next-generation space-based missile defense system. Through these efforts, it seeks to seamlessly integrate its space combat capabilities into the global operational network of the US, thereby acquiring strategic offensive capabilities that were previously prohibited.
At the regional level, Japan has actively aligned itself with the US Indo-Pacific Strategy, willingly serving as a frontline agent in Washington's intervention in regional affairs. Japan has accelerated the deployment of missile units in the southwestern islands and coordinated closely with US military deployments in the Asia-Pacific, in an attempt to build a forward strike platform along the first island chain. This has fully exposed the offensive and adventurist nature of its strategic posture.
In order to expand its geopolitical influence, Japan has relied on the Japan-US alliance to deepen military and security cooperation with regional partner countries, accelerating the construction of a so-called multi-dimensional and multi-layered Indo-Pacific security network, namely, the "Japan-US Plus N" mini-lateral security framework.
Among these efforts, Japan's military entanglement with the Philippines is particularly representative and dangerous. With the Reciprocal Access Agreement coming into force, Japan's Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) have been able to conduct regular tactical exercises and deployment preparations in the Philippines under the pretext of disaster relief and other humanitarian activities. Japan has also built ammunition depots on Palawan Island, which echo its military deployments in the Ryukyu Islands to the north, in an attempt to establish a forward operational hub between the South China Sea and the Taiwan Strait that can be directly used for combat operations. Such deployments go far beyond the scope of the exclusively defense-oriented policy and constitute a direct manifestation of Japan's ambition to militarily intervene in sensitive regional affairs.
Japan's military ambitions are not confined to the Asia-Pacific region. From high-level dialogues to joint exercises, Japan has been actively courting NATO and key European military powers for deeper integration, while pushing its overseas military presence toward a more combat-oriented posture, in an attempt to assume a more aggressive role in global security affairs. Last year, fighter jets of the JSDF were deployed to the UK for the first time for overseas missions and joint training with British forces, marking a substantive step forward in Japan's military cooperation with NATO.
The nature of Japan's overseas military presence is also undergoing a profound transformation. Its base in Djibouti is evolving from an initial, temporary anti-piracy facility into Japan's first permanent overseas military base, with functions expanding to intelligence collection and power projection. The overseas operations of the JSDF now go beyond mere logistical support, increasingly involving forward deployment of offensive capabilities and realistic joint exercises. This shift from a logistics outpost to a combat node marks a key step in Japan's pursuit of overseas power projection, circumventing the constraints of its pacifist constitution.
Overall, the dangerous strategic shift driven by Japanese right-wing forces constitutes an open challenge to the post-war international order. Its essence lies in leveraging external "crises" to advance domestic agendas for constitutional revision and military expansion, ultimately steering Japan toward a path of renewed risk-taking. The international community must remain highly vigilant against this perilous trend and work together to safeguard the hard-won achievements of peace.