Japan faces domestic backlash after lifting ban on lethal arms exports

Japan's decision to loosen arms export regulations and permit lethal weapons sales has sparked widespread public anger, mass protests and fierce domestic criticism.

The Japanese government officially revised "the three principles on transfer of defense equipment and technology" and their implementation guidelines on Tuesday to allow overseas sales of weapons, including those with lethal capabilities.

Opposition parties have condemned the cabinet-led revision, arguing that it bypasses parliamentary oversight and betrays the country's post-war pacifist identity.

Takeshi Shina, secretary-general of the Centrist Reform Alliance, Japan's main opposition force, said if the government can push forward unrestricted arms exports at its own discretion, without parliamentary involvement, it could erode Japan's pacifist foundation.

Japanese Communist Party and House of Councillors member Taku Yamazoe said fully lifting the weapons export ban would effectively fuel global conflicts and reduce Japan to a "war-profiteering nation."

This is incompatible with a peaceful nation based on Article 9 of the Constitution, he said, expressing his protest against the move and demanding its withdrawal.

Japan's 1947 Constitution is known as the pacifist constitution, as Article 9 renounces war and bans Japan from possessing military "war potential." Yet Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi and Japan's right-wing forces have long pushed to revise it.

Posting a video on social media, Mizuho Fukushima, leader of the Social Democratic Party, said Japan was once a country that did not sell weapons overseas.

Yet it is now constantly relaxing restrictions, and even proceeding with changes based solely on a cabinet decision, she said, calling it absolutely unacceptable.

Tooru Miyamoto, a former member of the Japanese House of Representatives, said on X that loosening restrictions on lethal weapons exports would "turn Japan into a nation that supports illegal wars."

"Let's change the administration," he said, in an apparent reference to Takaichi's government.

Widespread public opposition

The decision, pushed through by Takaichi and the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), comes despite overwhelming public opposition.

A nationwide mail-in poll by the Asahi Shimbun, released on Monday, one day before the cabinet approval, showed 67% of respondents oppose allowing Japan to export lethal weapons. Opposition was overwhelming among female respondents, with 74% against, versus 59% of men.

The poll also found that 75% of respondents believe Japan should maintain its Three Non-Nuclear Principles, the longstanding policy of not possessing, not producing and not allowing introduction of nuclear weapons into Japanese territory.

Even among voters who support Takaichi's cabinet and the LDP, 70% backed the non-nuclear policy. Among those without a specific party affiliation, support rose to 81%. Notably, women showed stronger support for the principles (82%) than men (67%).

Public discontent over the government's push to weaken the pacifist constitution spilled into the streets of Tokyo over the weekend, as around 36,000 demonstrators rallied outside the National Diet Building on Sunday.

Organizers said it marked the second large-scale protest in less than two weeks, following a similar gathering on April 8 that also drew roughly 30,000 participants.