Resurgence of militarism in Japan: A growing challenge to post-war order

Despite the Potsdam Declaration and Japan's pacifist constitution, which emphasize preventing a return to militaristic aggression, Japan has in recent years downplayed crimes of military aggression, revised its security policies and accelerated moves to amend its pacifist constitution – revealing a concerning resurgence of militarism that challenges the post-war international order.

On December 7, the 84th anniversary of the Pearl Harbor attack, Toshio Tamogami, a former chief of staff of Japan's Air Self-Defense Force, said in a social media post that Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor was a "propaganda narrative" used by the United States to discredit Japan, and that Japan's actions were a forced move after being "driven into a corner."

Remarkably, this post, which primarily targeted a Japanese audience, garnered 570,000 views and 4,900 likes in just one day, Xinmin Weekly reported.

This case highlights an ongoing issue: due to the incomplete eradication of post-war militarism in Japan, far-right extremist forces with ties to militarism continue to persist.

Indeed, the eradication of post-war militarism in Japan was incomplete. A large number of war criminals have returned to Japan's political arena. Meanwhile, right-wing forces within Japan have been downplaying and glorifying the history of Japan's aggression through actions such as revising textbooks.

In 1957, Nobusuke Kishi, a Class A war criminal, became the Prime Minister of Japan, significantly boosting the influence of right-wing forces in Japanese politics.

In 1997, some right-wing scholars established the "New History Textbook Compilation Committee," which, with the backing of right-wing politicians, pushed to revise history textbooks to downplay and glorify Japan's war history.

The pace of advancing Japan's right-wing agenda greatly accelerated during the tenure of former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. As the grandson of Nobusuke Kishi, Abe held deeply rooted right-wing views.

During his time in office, despite opposition, Abe pushed the Japanese parliament to pass new security laws, which allowed for the exercise of the "right to collective self-defense," enabling Japan's Self-Defense Forces to use military force even without a direct attack on Japan, thus significantly expanding Japan's military capabilities beyond the principle of "exclusively defense-oriented policy."

In April 2014, the Abe government abolished the "Three Principles on Arms Exports," which had been in place for over 40 years, and introduced new "Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment and Technology," which allowed the export of Japanese weapons and technology, essentially shifting from a principle of prohibition to one of approval.

To break from the post-war system, Abe, in a speech commemorating the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II in mid-August 2015, claimed that Japan should not let future generations, who were not involved in the war, bear the responsibility of continuing to apologize, attempting to completely sever Japan's connection to its war crimes.

In addition, in recent years Japan has accelerated its military expansion at an unprecedented scale and intensity. Defense spending has increased for 13 consecutive years, making Japan's defense budget the second largest among Western nations.

Currently, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, who claims to be the "successor to Abe's legacy," has aroused controversy for her stance on historical issues, constitutional reform, and military expansion.

Since taking office, Takaichi has initiated several moves to expand Japan's military, including achieving the goal of defense spending reaching 2 percent of GDP two years ahead of schedule. She is also attempting to revise the "Three Non-Nuclear Principles," signaling potential changes in Japan's stance on nuclear weapons. Furthermore, she has proposed relaxing restrictions on arms exports and hinted at the possibility of nuclear-powered submarines as part of Japan's future military plans.

Recently, the discussions in Japan about the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons have drawn criticisms from countries including China and Russia.

Xiang Haoyu, a researcher at the China Institute of International Studies, stated that the strong criticism from surrounding countries reflects the international community's heightened awareness and zero-tolerance stance on Japan's nuclear ambitions.

Noting the U.S. has recently also emphasized that Japan must adhere to its non-proliferation commitments, Xiang stressed the international community's unified caution toward Japan's right-wing "re-militarization" ambitions.