TOKYO: Japan is accelerating a decade-long transformation of its defence export policy, steadily moving away from strict postwar pacifist constraints and positioning itself as a growing supplier in the global arms market.
Over the past ten years, Tokyo has progressively dismantled long-standing restrictions that once virtually prohibited overseas weapons sales.
The shift began in 2014 under then-prime minister Shinzo Abe, who replaced a near-total export ban in place since 1976 with a more flexible framework allowing limited transfers for humanitarian support, international cooperation, and joint development projects deemed beneficial to Japan’s security.
This policy change soon produced tangible outcomes. In 2016, Japan recorded its first notable equipment transfer when it leased TC-90 trainer aircraft to the Philippines for maritime patrol operations in the South China Sea.
‘However, early ambitions also faced setbacks, including Australia’s decision the same year to reject a Japanese bid to supply advanced submarines, instead opting for a French design.
Despite this, Japanese defence firms gradually gained traction in overseas markets. By 2020, Mitsubishi Electric secured a landmark deal to supply air-surveillance radar systems to the Philippines, marking the first export of newly manufactured Japanese defence equipment.
Tokyo’s strategic outlook broadened further in 2022 when it joined the United Kingdom and Italy in the Global Combat Air Programme, a collaborative project to develop a next-generation stealth fighter expected to enter service in the 2030s. The initiative marked Japan’s most significant defence partnership outside the United States.
In 2023, Japan introduced the Overseas Security Assistance programme, enabling it to provide military aid such as patrol vessels, drones, and radar systems to countries in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Tonga, Sri Lanka, Djibouti and the Philippines.
The same year, Tokyo eased export restrictions further, allowing equipment manufactured under licence to be sold back to the original producing country. This adjustment enabled the United States to receive Patriot missile systems assembled in Japan, indirectly supporting allied military aid to Ukraine, according to Reuters.
Further regulatory flexibility followed in 2024, when Japan permitted future overseas sales of equipment developed under the Global Combat Air Programme, provided exports were not directed to conflict zones.
The country’s defence export ambitions reached a new milestone in 2025, when Australia selected an upgraded version of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Mogami-class frigate in an 11-ship, $7 billion deal to replace its ageing naval fleet. Later that year, Tokyo also doubled funding under its overseas assistance programme amid growing maritime pressure in the region.
The momentum continued into 2026, when the ruling party under Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi proposed scrapping long-standing limits that restrict arms exports to five categories, including transport, rescue, surveillance, and mine clearance. The proposed changes would further loosen restrictions, while maintaining a general prohibition on exports to active conflict zones except under exceptional circumstances.
Taken together, the reforms reflect Japan’s gradual but decisive shift towards becoming a more active defence exporter, reshaping both its strategic posture and its role in regional and global security architecture.
