The Japanese government has given the green light to a draft budget for fiscal 2026, with defense spending reaching approximately 9.04 trillion yen (around 58 billion US dollars), a new all-time high that has raised concerns among the public. Japan’s Shimbun Akahata highlighted in an editorial published on Saturday that the defense budget has surged by 3.6 trillion yen over the past four years, standing at 5.4 trillion yen in fiscal 2022.
The newspaper pointed out that the latest defense budget figure is on par with the funds allocated for addressing the declining birthrate and nursing care payments, warning that the increase in military spending could lead to a reduction in livelihood-related expenditures, framing it as a budget prioritizing “military prosperity over people’s livelihoods.” The Ryukyu Shimpo also expressed concerns in an editorial, stating that the armament plans outlined in the new fiscal year’s defense budget deviate significantly from Japan’s traditionally “exclusively defense-oriented” policy and could escalate military tensions.
Atsushi Koketsu, a professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University, expressed deep disappointment with the budget proposal, criticizing its lack of consideration for people’s livelihood and stability while substantially boosting defense expenditure. Japan, known for its postwar pacifist stance under the war-renouncing Constitution, had historically maintained its annual defense budget at around 1 percent of GDP, approximately 5 trillion yen. However, despite opposition, the government aims to increase total defense outlays to about 43 trillion yen from fiscal 2023 through 2027 and raise defense-related spending to 2 percent of GDP by fiscal 2027.
In recent years, Japan’s annual defense budget has surpassed 6 trillion yen, 7 trillion yen, 8 trillion yen, and now 9 trillion yen, marking a significant departure from its previous budgetary constraints. (1 Japanese yen equals about 0.006 USD)
