Japan joins the military expansion race

Earlier this month, the Japanese government published its latest National Security Strategy and National Defense Strategy documents, outlining how Prime Minister Fumio Kishida and his advisers see Japan’s strategic surroundings and intend to manage them. The directives sound a stark and blunt note. For example, the National Security Strategy closes by declaring that “in no way can we be optimistic about what the future of the international community will bring.”

Bleak surroundings warrant a muscular response from Tokyo.

Like most official documents out of Japan, the National Security Strategy takes a decidedly grand-strategic outlook. It acknowledges demographic stresses—Japan’s population is plummeting in numbers—and fiscal constraints. The document’s framers also adopt the “comprehensive national power” lingo that’s common currency in China, referring not just to diplomatic, informational, military, and economic implements but to harder-to-pin-down sources of strength such as culture and human excellence.