Japan's Emerging Security Strategy

Matsuda discusses Japan's emerging security strategy. In December 2022, Japan defined its security policy for the coming decade by releasing three documents: a National Security Strategy, a National Defense Strategy, and a Defense Buildup Program. This long-anticipated set of documents have proven to be transformational by bringing about significant and positive changes in the US-Japan alliance. The past decade has been a critical--and evolutionary--juncture in Tokyo's security policy. The series of security reforms implemented throughout the decade have paved the way to facilitate a more integrated military alliance with the US by bolstering Tokyo's decision-making apparatus and untangling some of the peculiar legal constraints on the use of force in Japan.