Japan has made a new record on defense spending as it has a new budget of 58 billion dollars. The cabinet of Japan has endorsed a historical military budget of 9.04 trillion yen (about 58 billion) in fiscal year 2026, which is the 14th consecutive annual rise in military spending and the primary time defense expenditures have surpassed 9 trillion yen, as per the official government notifications and press reports
Reuters; Al Jazeera
The budget allocation is included in an official national budget record of 122.3 trillion and promotes the five-year plan of Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to increase defense expenditure to around 2 percent of GDP
Bloomberg
A parliamentary approval of the budget by March would put Japan third in the world in the number of countries that spend money on defense after the United States and China
Newsweek
The shift is a major contrast to the post-war tradition of maintaining the defense spending at no more than 1 percent of the GDP in Japan.
The Japanese authorities explain the growth by stating that there is a growing and faster dire security enviornment.
Stars and Stripes
The main strategic issue is listed to be the increasing military operations of China such as aircraft carrier drills in the waters around Japan and pushing the Taiwanese into submission
Al Jazeera
Prime Minister Takiyama has threatened to be impacted by a situation in Taiwan, a statement that the Beijing diplomats protested.
Newsweek
North Korea’s expanding missile program and Russia’s war in Ukraine have further reinforced Tokyo’s security reassessment.
Reuters
The FY2026 budget focuses on long-range strike and missile defense capabilities, and spends about ¥970 billion on standoff weapons, including Type-12 upgrade of anti-ship missiles, development of hypersonic glide weapons, and acquisition of U.S. made Tomahawk cruise missiles.
Stars and Stripes; Newsweek
A parliamentary approval of the budget by March would put Japan third in the world in the number of countries that spend money on defense after the United States and China
Newsweek
Japan is also collaborating with the United States in the development of hypersonic interceptors (Reuters).
A parliamentary approval of the budget by March would put Japan third in the world in the number of countries that spend money on defense after the United States and China
Newsweek
The other priority has been unmanned and autonomous systems with an estimated ¥100 billion funding the SHIELD program, where drones will fly, patrol the coastal waters and land, and attack their target in the sea (Stars and Stripes).
The budget also finances a next-generation air and space capacity, such as a new project of a stealth fighter with Britain and Italy, and permits the renaming of the Air Self-Defense Force into the Air and Space Self-Defense Force.
Newsweek
The growing military budget of Japan in the region has raised eyebrows in China, whereas the United States, Australia and South Korea are all keeping a keen eye on the developments
Al Jazeera
The Japanese authorities insist that the accumulation is defensive and it does not contradict the principle of pacifism and commitment to alliances of the country
Japan Ministry of Defense