Japan's rearmament

Japan's constitution, written under American occupation in 1947, renounces war and forbids the country to keep armed forces. Japan has had armed forces since 1954, called Self-Defense Forces, held for decades to one percent of national output, forbidden to fight abroad, to strike enemy territory or to sell weapons. One by one those limits have gone. Spending is doubling, long-range missiles are on order, arms exports were freed in April 2026, and the government now has the two thirds of parliament needed to propose changing the constitution itself.

The wider rivalry and each side's full account: The Japan-China rivalry.

Where it stands · September 2026

Japan's defence ministry has submitted its budget request for the coming fiscal year. The request is the largest the ministry has made. The figure continues a series of annual increases in planned defence spending. The request now goes to the finance ministry and then to the cabinet for approval. No decision on the final amount has been announced.

What the dispute is about

Whether Japan may be a normal military power. Its government says eighty years of peaceful conduct have earned it the right every state has. China and both Koreas say a country that has not settled its account with the past has not.

Strike weapons. For sixty years Japan held that its constitution allowed only a shield. Since 2022 it has been buying missiles that can hit bases in China and North Korea, and calls this counterstrike.

Article 9. The governing coalition wants to write the armed forces into the constitution. That needs two thirds of each house, which it has, and a majority in a referendum, which polls do not promise.

What each account leaves out

Tokyo's leaves out that leading members of the government belong to associations which deny or minimise the wartime record, which is what makes neighbours read its rearmament as they do; and that each limit was removed by reinterpretation, not by the constitutional vote that would settle its legitimacy.

Beijing's leaves out that its own forces are the largest in Asia, its nuclear arsenal the fastest growing in the world, and its ships off Japanese-held islands nearly every day; that Japan has not fired on anyone since 1945; and that Japanese support for rearmament rose in step with Chinese pressure.

The pacifists' leaves out that Japan's peace rested on American weapons, nuclear ones included, and that they offer no answer to what should replace them if America's commitment weakens.

The ledger

Japan's government

Wanted: the means to deter, and an end to the postwar exceptions.
Gained: most of both, with public support it lacked a decade ago.
Paid: debt, Chinese penalties, and the unease of neighbours, South Korea among them, whom it needs as partners.

China

Wanted: Japan kept under its postwar limits.
Gained: a theme that unites its public and resonates in Korea.
Paid: the limits fell faster under its pressure than they had in sixty years without it.

The Japanese

A majority now supports stronger defences; a majority still hesitates to touch Article 9. They have not yet been asked to vote on either.

What changed the course

Words in dispute

Names and terms the sides do not share. This page keeps them out of its own voice.

Self-Defense Forces / army
counterstrike capability / pre-emptive strike
normal country / remilitarisation, neo-militarism
proactive pacifism
peace constitution
China threat

Events per week

Per-week distribution of events. Click a bar to see that week's top events.

Click a week bar to select. Light blue = active week.

Week of Oct 19, 2026(1)

Chinese expert calls Japan’s six reports on PLA activities over two days sensationalism aimed at justifying own military buildup

1 sourcesOct 20, 2026

Japan's rearmament

What the dispute is about

What each account leaves out

The ledger

Japan's government

China

The Japanese

What changed the course

Words in dispute

Events per week

Also involved

How each side explains it

Tokyo's account

Beijing's account

The account of Japan's pacifists

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