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Japan is struggling to fund plans that would particularly improve its military’s readiness to developing regional threats.
By River Akira Davis and Hisako Ueno
Report from Tokyo
The yen’s plunge this year, to its lowest point in just four decades, undermines Japan’s plans for the largest military buildup in its postwar history.
The government has scaled back its orders for planes, and officials warn that further cuts may be imminent. Japan buys much of its military apparatus from U. S. corporations in dollar transactions. The government’s purchasing power has been particularly eroded by the yen’s depreciation.
“What we are achieving in terms of actual defense functions and our initial goal, they are both aligned,” Satoshi Morimoto, former Japanese defense minister, said in an interview. The price of the defense budget over five years “has been reduced by 30 percent,” Morimoto said.
The challenge of the Japanese currency comes at a critical time. The country’s significant increase in military spending was aimed at bolstering its defenses as Tokyo faces developing missile threats from North Korea and other demanding situations raised through China, raising fears of an imaginable clash. between China and Taiwan.
In 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida announced a new national security strategy that would more than double the amount spent on defense. The five-year 43 trillion yen budget, equivalent to about $319 billion at the time, would allow Japan to deter attacks by giving it the ability to target bases in enemy territory.
The new budget breaks with a long-standing precedent of restricting spending and relying on U. S. forces. Kishida hailed the increase in military spending as a “turning point” in Japan’s history.
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