Originally published by Pacific Forum, this article is republished with permission. In barely half a year, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has pushed Japan’s defense policy into unfamiliar territory. The FY2026 main defense budget has reached 9.04 trillion yen (approximately US$58 billion), with total security-related spending at roughly 10.6 trillion yen, at about 1.9% of GDP. The 2% threshold, long treated as […]
Category: Northeast Asia
Northeast Asia is where geopolitical tensions, geo-economic competition and technological innovation intersect and clash. Asia Times delivers deep-dive coverage of Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Taiwan’s politics, economics and security. From Korean Peninsula tremors to Japan’s remilitarization to Taiwan’s security, Asia Times’ Northeast Asia coverage brings incisive insight to the region’s complex picture.
