Japan Accelerates Defense Buildup With Record Budget and Expanded Unmanned Capabilities |
Japan is accelerating its defense buildup amid rising geopolitical tensions, driven by mounting military pressure from three nuclear-armed neighbors — China, North Korea, and Russia — and calls from the United States for higher defense spending.
On December 26, the cabinet of Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae approved a draft defense budget for fiscal year 2026 totaling 9.04 trillion yen ($58 billion), including expenditures related to the realignment of U.S. forces in Japan. The nation’s fiscal year begins in April.
The budget represents a 3.8 percent increase from the previous year, marking the first time Japan’s defense spending has exceeded 9 trillion yen and extending its record-high trajectory to a 12th consecutive year. Compared with the initial budget request submitted in August, which stood at 8.85 trillion yen, the total was increased by about 190 billion yen. The move underscores the Takaichi administration’s policy emphasis on accelerating Japan’s defense buildup.
Japan’s fiscal year 2026 budget plan, expected to be approved by the country’s bicameral legislature in the coming months, marks the fourth year of the Defense Buildup Program — a five-year framework covering fiscal years 2023 through 2027 that allocates a total of 43 trillion yen ($275 billion) in defense-related spending. Under the program, the Japanese government has set a goal of raising defense-related expenditures to 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) by fiscal year 2027, including not only the Ministry of Defense’s budget but also defense-related outlays by other government agencies.
However, under the Takaichi administration, the supplementary budget for the current fiscal year 2025 — the first compiled during her tenure and passed and enacted by the Diet earlier this month — includes roughly 1.1 trillion yen in additional security-related spending, including defense expenditures.
As a result, Japan is on track to reach its 2 percent-of-GDP defense spending target two years ahead of schedule. This front-loading of defense outlays underscores the........