Cheered by U.S., Japan is breaking away from its pacifist constitution with record military spending

Two of the world's largest military spenders, the U.S. and Japan, simultaneously greenlighted  their defense budgets for 2024 at record-breaking highs on Friday.

U.S. President Joe Biden signed into law the U.S. defense policy bill which authorized a record $886 billion in annual military spending on Friday. The National Defense Authorization Act, or NDAA, which is nearly 3,100 pages long, calls for a 5.2 percent pay rise for service members and increases the nation's total national security budget by about 3 percent.

Meanwhile Japan, historically constrained by its pacifist constitution adopted after surrendering in WWII, is now embarking on a record military expansion on the same day. The country's cabinet on Friday approved a hefty 16-percent increase in military spending for 2024 and eased its postwar ban on lethal weapons export, underscoring a shift away from the country's self-defense-only principle.

The 7.95 trillion-yen (about $56 billion) defense budget for the 2024 fiscal year is part of a 112.7 trillion-yen (about $794 billion) national budget and still needs approval by Japan's National Diet. 

U.S. military-industrial complex

The U.S. has authorized the record-breaking budget for the Department of Defense to fund a wide range of initiatives, including modernization of nuclear weapons, hypersonic missile development, and expanded operations in the Indo-Pacific region.

The defense budget of the U.S. is equal to the combined defense budgets of more than 20 countries ranking after it, highlighting the extent of the country’s military industrial complex.

The fiscal 2024 NDAA also includes a four-month extension of a disputed domestic surveillance authority, giving lawmakers more time to either enact reform or keep the program, known as Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

That provision faced objections in both the Senate and House, but not enough to derail the bill.

The bill extends one measure to help Ukraine, the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through the end of 2026, authorizing $300 million for the program in the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024, and the next one.

However, that figure is small compared to the $61 billion that Biden had asked Congress to approve to support Kyiv in a regional conflict that began in February 2022. Republicans had refused to approve assistance for Ukraine without Democrats agreeing to a significant toughening of immigration law.

Japan's controversial act

Friday's announcements marked a major breakaway from its pacifist constitution, which prohibited exports of deadly weapons and limited its striking capabilities which it is now looking to enhance. 

Under previous rules, Japan could export only components of arms and was prohibited from delivering completed products.

The revised guidelines will now allow Tokyo to export completed products to countries where patent holders are based. Any re-exports to third countries would require permission from Tokyo.

In the latest step under a new security strategy that Japan adopted a year ago, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's government also allowed the export of weapons and components made in Japan under foreign licenses to the licensing nations. The controversial move is the first major revision of Japan’s arms export ban since an earlier easing in 2014.

"In taking the action, we hope to contribute to defend a free and open international order based on the rule of law and to achieve the peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region," Kishida told reporters, adding that "there is no change to our principle as a pacifist nation."

The government quickly approved the first export shipment under the change, agreeing to send to the U.S. surface-to-air Patriot guided missiles produced in Japan under an American license. Officials said it would complement U.S. stock, raising speculation that Japanese-produced Patriots may be sent to Ukraine.

The easing also paves the way for future possible exports to the U.S., Britain and six European licensing nations involving dozens of lethal weapons and components, including F-15s and fighter jet engines.

"The scope, scale, and speed of Japan’s security reforms have been unprecedented," U.S. Ambassador Rahm Emanuel said in a statement on X. He praised the easing of the defense equipment and transfer policy as historic and "a significant example of Japan's shared commitment to deterrence."

Takakage Fujita, chairman of Japan's Inheritance and Development Murayama Talk, believes that Japan's expansion of defense expenditure and loosening of arms exports are contrary to the country's pacifist constitution and Japan should adhere to the path of peaceful development.

Fujita told China Media Group (CMG) that, "I think this is a very unwise policy. It will increase tensions in Asia and put Japan into isolation. Now Japan's finances are suffering from a deficit problem, and huge military expenses will make the Japanese people's lives even more difficult. Given these factors, I believe this misguided, record-high military spending budget should be rejected. I am against it."

It is an unwise policy for Japan to continue to push up defense expenditures, which will lead to regional tensions and plunge the Japanese government into more serious financial problems, he added.

He also mentioned that Japan should not follow the U.S. blindly to create regional tensions. The Asian country needs to formulate an independent foreign policy to contribute to regional peace and development, he said.

(With input from agencies)