Reference News, April 21 — According to the Asahi Shimbun’s website on April 21, the Takaichi Cabinet has abolished five use-based restrictions on arms exports, marking a major turn in Japan’s distinctive, long-standing policy of stringent arms controls. Although Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi insists the revision “does not deviate from Japan’s path as a peaceful nation,” experts argue Japan has in effect “abandoned the idea of a peaceful state.”

Neither the “Three Principles on Arms Exports” nor their implementing guidelines are laws, so they do not require Diet deliberation or approval. As a result, consultations among the ruling coalition parties play a decisive role in setting the direction of any revisions. Over eleven months from 2023 to 2024, the then-ruling LDP–Komeito coalition held 27 standalone consultations on arms export policy.

In sharp contrast, in the four months leading up to this revision, the ruling coalition formed by the LDP and the Japan Innovation Party held only three consultations in total. Japan’s unique postwar arms export policy was overturned without sufficient public debate.

Answering a Komeito question during Diet deliberations, Takaichi said: “We must broaden our circle of like-minded countries to achieve regional stability. Times have changed.” She added, “I do not believe using the defense industry to spur economic growth and generate revenue is a sign of national decline.”

In response, Akihiro Sado, vice president of Osaka Seikei University and a security policy expert, noted: “Without any substantive debate about the nation’s identity, they are trying to fundamentally change Japan’s character as a country that ‘does not sell weapons and does not engage in actions that fuel war.’ Although they still profess Japan to be a ‘peaceful nation,’ in practice this ideal has already been discarded.” (Translated by Liu Lin)

Editor: CA