Pak Sahafat – The Washington Conference of 1922, by accepting the power of Japan, had accepted the navy of this country as the third naval power after the United States and England. 23 years later, with the end of World War II, the Japanese army was destroyed. Eight decades after the end of the World War, militarism seems to have returned to Japan’s foreign policy.
The failed security treaties of 1951 and 1960 between the United States and Japan placed the United States in charge of providing Japan’s security. The Security Treaty of 1960, which provoked many protests throughout Japan, allowed the United States to establish military bases in Japan.
This event, known in Japanese history as the beginning of the Yoshida Doctrine, although it questioned Japan’s political independence, paved the way for Japan’s economic reconstruction.
This doctrine was accompanied by a special interpretation of Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, which assumed the country’s military force to be minimal and only to ensure national defense. Although in later years modified interpretations of this principle allowed the Japanese government to use self-defense forces beyond Japan’s borders to cooperate with the United Nations and the United States, Japan’s approach to military forces remained conservative.
Japan’s first national security document after the World War in 1957 linked Japan’s overall security guarantee to the security agreement with the United States. In this way, the security support umbrella of the United States provided an opportunity for Japan to follow the “Economy First” approach in an ideal way and for this country to be recognized as one of the most developed countries in the world.
In the years after 1970, that is, when America left Vietnam, slight changes in the Japanese approach to defense began. During the American invasion of the Middle East, the Japanese Defense Forces provided logistical support to the American forces in Afghanistan, which was the first serious Japanese military presence outside the borders.
The most important development in the field of Japan’s defense strategy dates back to 2014. When Shinzo Abe’s government’s new interpretation of the constitution allowed the country’s government to intervene militarily in the event of threats against Japan’s allies. This approach was a fundamental difference in Japan’s conservative practice.
This development, by changing the traditional procedure between America and Japan, gave Tokyo a more colorful role in securing its security; To the extent that in 2019, the United States called Japan one of the strongest allies in missile defense. However, none of these changes were as important as the developments that took place in late 2022.
What are the new changes?
In late 2022, Japanese Prime Minister Kishida introduced the most ambitious and fastest strategy for Japan’s military expansion; an action that was met with the reaction of China, North Korea, Russia and even South Korea.
In the most important decision of the Japanese government in three new documents published in December 2022, Japan’s defense budget, which has traditionally been close to 1% of the country’s gross domestic product in recent decades, is to be doubled in five years to 2%. In this case, it will make Japan’s military budget the third largest military budget in the world after the United States and China.
Another notable issue is Japan’s focus on developing long-range countermeasures. This development is supposed to include the purchase of a significant number of Tomahawk missiles from the United States, which are currently held only by the United States and the United Kingdom.
According to the foreign relations think tank, “the contribution of the innovation budget will include defense technologies for the first time. The focus in this regard is on missile development.
This issue is important in the sense that after the World War, Japan had refused to move towards offensive capabilities such as long-range missiles, aircraft carriers and strategic bombers.
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Why is Japan pursuing a military development program?
There are many reasons why Japanese officials are considering pursuing this approach despite widespread pressure from pacifist groups in Japan.
The first issue is the growing threat of North Korea. North Korea’s repeated missile tests over Japan and its acquisition of nuclear weapons, as emphasized in Japan’s 2022 security document, are a serious threat to Japan’s future.
The increase in China’s movements and the start of this country’s obvious attempt to achieve regional hegemony is another influential factor in changing Japan’s practice. Japan’s new security strategy calls China the biggest strategic threat.
Japan’s economic dependence on the China Sea and the increasing possibility of China’s conflict in Taiwan make Japan more and more in need of military development. Japan has territorial disputes with its conflicting neighbors, namely China and Russia, which increases the possible confrontation between them.
The think tank on foreign relations (cfr) also considers the growth of military technology as another reason that has led Japan to further military development. This think tank writes in a report in this regard: “Missile arsenals in East Asia are now faster, more accurate and more undetectable. This increases Japan’s vulnerability, and China’s asymmetric capabilities reduce the ability of the United States to help Japan.”
Three days after the start of the war in Ukraine, the chancellor of Germany considered this event a historical turning point for Germany, which necessitates a review of Germany’s security policy. “Turning point” is the key word that the Japanese Prime Minister said after the Ukraine war and about its effect.
The support of 60% of the Japanese people for the development of Japan’s anti-attack capability shows that the Japanese public opinion has largely accepted the dangers of the country’s security environment. In fact, the people of this country have abandoned their past practice of prohibiting any military expansionism.
America’s position on Japan’s military development
After the death of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzoabe, the Foreign Policy magazine wrote: “Washington is mourning the man who made Japan a real security ally of the United States in the Pacific and Indian Oceans.”
This statement shows how important Japan’s new security strategies are for America. The current support of the United States for Japan’s new approach was contrary to the American view of the country after the World War. With the end of World War II, the United States insisted on Japan’s complete demilitarization.
At present, although the expansion of Japan’s militarism may in the long run cost the security interests of the United States, but Washington prefers to use the military power of a country in China’s neighborhood to counter China’s growing growth.
Michael Green, a former American official, says in this regard: “In 1990, we thought we could do it ourselves, but now we know it is not possible without Japan.”
In fact, with the decline of American power in recent years, this country can no longer carry out its strategies alone. As a result, the main preference of American leaders is to transfer the responsibility of maintaining the current regional order to allies like Japan.
According to the Economist: “For American planners, Japan’s economic size, strategic geography and military potential make it their most important Pacific ally against China.”
Despite Japan’s economic and technological power, this country can become a military or even nuclear power in a short period of time faster than many other countries in the world.