New Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi is looking to bring forward a five-year defense spending hike to 2% of gross domestic product from fiscal 2027 to the end of this fiscal year, as Tokyo looks to spotlight its commitment shouldering more of the defense burden ahead of U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to Japan next week.
Takaichi is expected to lay out a broad vision for beefing up the country’s defense capabilities in a speech Friday that will announce a plan to bring spending up to the 2% level by using a soon-to-come supplementary budget for this fiscal year, local media has reported, quoting government sources.
Takaichi has said that her administration will revise the country’s three key security documents — its National Defense Strategy (NDS), Defense Buildup Program (DBP) and National Security Strategy (NSS) — the last of which sets out the current five-year, ¥43 trillion (roughly $282 billion) spending plan in late 2022. These revisions are expected to clear a path for even higher defense budgets amid what Takaichi said are “significant changes” in how conflicts are fought.
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