Japan Rethinking Its Security Policy

Japan’s December 2022 release of reformulated versions of three key security documents included the first revision to its National Security Strategy. Accompanied by a government commitment to substantially increased defense spending, the new documents portend a major shift in the nation’s security stance. A look at the drastically changing security environment around Japan that precipitated these changes, the ongoing challenges facing the government, and Tokyo’s responses to them.

(Photo: Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force after the completion of a unit formation ceremony at Camp Ishigaki in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, on March 16, 2023. Image courtesy of the Ground Self-Defense Forces; © Jiji.)