TOKYO — Japan’s cabinet approved a record 8.5 trillion yen ($57 billion) defence budget for fiscal 2027 on Friday — the largest in the nation’s post-war history — to fund simultaneous acquisitions of Tomahawk cruise missiles, two additional Aegis Ashore-compatible destroyers, and a new space operations unit, marking a decisive break from the country’s longstanding pacifist constraints.
The package, endorsed in an emergency session of the National Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Ishiba Shigeru, represents a 14 percent increase over the current fiscal year and will push Japan’s defence spending past the 1 percent of GDP threshold for the third consecutive year — a line the country avoided crossing for decades due to constitutional restrictions on offensive military capability.
“The security environment surrounding Japan has fundamentally changed,” Prime Minister Ishiba told reporters after the cabinet meeting. “We can no longer rely on the assumptions that kept us safe in the decades after the war. This budget reflects the reality we face today.”
The acquisition of Tomahawk cruise missiles — to be equipped on Japan’s four Aegis destroyer vessels — will give the Self-Defence Forces a long-range strike capability for the first time, enabling pre-emptive targeting of enemy missile launch sites and naval assets in the East China Sea. The missiles, manufactured by Raytheon and sourced through the US Foreign Military Sales programme, are expected to begin arriving in 2028.
The two new Aegis destroyers, to be built at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries’ Nagasaki shipyard, will bring Japan’s surface fleet to 10 Aegis-equipped vessels — the largest such fleet in Asia outside the US Navy. Japan’s maritime Self-Defence Force has been central to monitoring Chinese naval activity in the East China Sea and around the Senkaku Islands, which Beijing also claims.
The new space operations unit, to be operational by 2027, will be tasked with monitoring and protecting Japan’s satellite infrastructure — including communications and surveillance satellites — from anti-satellite weapons and electronic warfare attacks. Japan cited North Korea’s satellite launches and China’s demonstrated anti-satellite capabilities as immediate justifications for the unit.
China’s foreign ministry expressed “serious concern” and accused Japan of “stoking regional confrontation.” A spokesperson said the budget increase “demonstrates a dangerous trend toward militarisation that will destabilise Northeast Asia.” South Korea, which has its own territorial disputes with Japan, issued a cautious statement saying it would “closely monitor the development of Japan’s security policy.”
The US State Department welcomed the announcement, with a spokesperson calling Japan’s defence investment “a critical contribution to regional stability and the rules-based international order.” The statement noted that enhanced Japanese defence capabilities would complement existing US-Japan alliance arrangements and the trilateral security partnership with South Korea.
Budget analysts noted that the 8.5 trillion yen figure represents a significant acceleration from the 5.3 trillion yen approved just two years ago. Japan’s defence ministry has faced persistent pressure from Washington to increase its contribution to the alliance burden, particularly as the US rebalances its military presence toward the Pacific and diverts assets to European theatres.
Japan’s public remains divided on the expansion. Polls conducted by NHK in May showed 47 percent supporting higher defence spending, with 38 percent opposed. The remaining 15 percent held no strong opinion. Critics, including the Japanese Communist Party and several civic organisations, warned that the budget acceleration risked triggering a regional arms race and undermining Japan’s constitutional commitment to pacifism.
Sources: Kyodo News, Reuters, AP, Japan Times, BBC, Nikkei Asia, NHK World, US State Department, China Foreign Ministry, South Korea Defence Ministry
Written by Kenji Tanaka, Asia-Pacific Bureau Chief
Kenji Tanaka
Kenji Tanaka covers Asia Pacific security, technology, and geopolitics from Tokyo.