Japan’s Cabinet has approved a record defence budget plan exceeding 58 billion US dollars for the coming year. Through the budget, the country aims to fortify its strike-back capability and coastal defence with cruise missiles and unmanned arsenals as tensions rise in the region. The draft budget for fiscal 2026, beginning April, is up 9.4 per cent from 2025 and marks the fourth year of Japan’s ongoing five-year program to double annual arms spending to 2 per cent of gross domestic product.
Japan’s Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi stressed his country’s determination to pursue military buildup and protect its people as Japan faces the severest and most complex security environment in the postwar era. The budget increase comes as Japan faces elevated tension from China. Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said in November that her country’s military could get involved if China were to take action against Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing says must come under its rule.
