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Japan's Record Defence Budget Sparks Public Concern Over Livelihoods

Japan's cabinet has approved a record-high defence budget of approximately 9.04 trillion yen for fiscal 2026, continuing a rapid four-year surge. Japanese editorials warn this "military prosperity" comes at the direct expense of critical social spending on issues like the declining birthrate and nursing care. Critics argue the massive armament plans deviate from Japan's postwar, exclusively defence-oriented pacifist policy and will aggravate regional tensions. This budget is part of a government goal to double defence spending to 2% of GDP by 2027, a significant shift from decades of a roughly 1% cap.

Key Points: Japan's Record Defence Budget Sparks Public Concern

  • Record 9.04 trillion yen defence budget
  • Surge of 3.6 trillion yen in 4 years
  • Squeezes birthrate & nursing care funds
  • Deviates from defence-only policy
2 min read

Japan's record defence budget plan sparks public concern

Japan's defence budget hits a record 9 trillion yen, sparking public concern over squeezed social spending and a shift from pacifist policy.

"military prosperity at the expense of people's livelihoods - Shimbun Akahata editorial"

Tokyo, Dec 28

The Japanese government has recently approved a draft budget for fiscal 2026, with defence spending set at about 9.04 trillion yen, marking a new record high and sparking public concern.

An editorial published on Saturday (local time) by Japan's Shimbun Akahata noted that the country's defence budget stood at 5.4 trillion yen in fiscal 2022 and has surged by 3.6 trillion yen in just four years, reports Xinhua news agency.

The newspaper said the latest figure is comparable to the 3.5 trillion yen allocated for measures to address the declining birthrate and the 3.8 trillion yen earmarked for nursing care payments in the budget proposal, warning that rising military spending will inevitably squeeze livelihood-related expenditures, which makes it a budget of "military prosperity at the expense of people's livelihoods."

The Ryukyu Shimpo said in an editorial on Saturday that the armament plans reflected in the new fiscal year's defence budget seriously deviate from Japan's "exclusively defence-oriented" policy and will aggravate military tensions.

Atsushi Koketsu, professor emeritus at Yamaguchi University, told Xinhua that the budget proposal is deeply disappointing, as it fails to give sufficient consideration to people's livelihood and stability while significantly increasing defence spending.

For decades, Japan capped its annual defence budget at around 1 per cent of GDP, roughly 5 trillion yen, reflecting its postwar pacifist stance under the war-renouncing Constitution. But the government, despite widespread opposition, set a goal in 2022 of raising total defence outlays to about 43 trillion yen from fiscal 2023 through 2027 and hiking defence-related spending to 2 per cent of GDP by fiscal 2027.

Since fiscal 2023, Japan's annual defence budget has successively exceeded 6 trillion yen, 7 trillion yen, 8 trillion yen, and 9 trillion yen. (1 Japanese yen equals about 0.006 USD)

- IANS

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Reader Comments

R
Rohit P
From an Indian security perspective, we understand the need for nations to bolster defence in a volatile region. However, such a sharp increase in just 4 years is staggering. Hope this doesn't lead to an arms race in Asia. Stability is key for everyone's economic growth. 🤔
A
Aman W
The professor is spot on. Deeply disappointing. 9 trillion yen is a mind-boggling amount. Imagine if even a fraction of that was invested in technology partnerships with countries like India for green energy or healthcare instead. Missed opportunity for peaceful cooperation.
S
Sarah B
Public concern is completely valid. When defence spending jumps from 5.4 to 9 trillion yen so fast, it has to come from somewhere. It's always social programs that get squeezed first. The citizens protesting this are fighting for their own future.
V
Vikram M
Interesting to see the internal debate in Japan. The Ryukyu Shimpo's point about deviating from a "defence-oriented" policy is crucial. There's a difference between defence and offence. Hope cooler heads prevail and focus returns to people's basic needs. Jai Hind.
K
Karthik V
As a neighbour in Asia, we wish for peace and prosperity for all. Japan has been a great partner for India. But this shift is significant. A country's strength comes from the well-being of its people, not just the size of its military budget. 🙏

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