Japan's defense minister vows 'close coordination with ruling parties' as LDP and Ishin prepare talks on revising three security documents within the year

TOKYO

Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi (小泉) said at a post-Cabinet press conference held in the first-floor lobby of the House of Representatives annex building on the morning of Oct. 23 that, regarding the revision within the year of the three security documents including the National Security Strategy, "I would like to closely coordinate with the ruling parties." It was a response to a question noting that the ruling Liberal Democratic Party and its coalition partner Nippon Ishin no Kai had settled on starting working-level talks from next month. The current three documents, adopted in December 2022, call for raising defense-related spending to the level of 2% of gross domestic product (GDP) in fiscal 2027 and for spending about 43 trillion yen on defense buildup over five years. A proposal the LDP submitted to the government in June this year cited the 3.5% of GDP set by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and South Korea and called for securing budgets and transforming defense capabilities within five years.

Koizumi instructs ministry officials to communicate with the ruling parties

The press conference after the Cabinet meeting began at 8:42 a.m. local time and ended at 8:47 a.m. According to the transcript released by the Ministry of Defense, a reporter said that "the LDP and Ishin have settled on starting talks by working-level officials from next month toward revising the three documents within the year," and asked what Koizumi expected from the talks with about two months left until next year.

Koizumi replied, "I have instructed the Defense Ministry's administrative officials as well to communicate properly with the ruling parties" (防衛省の事務方にも与党としっかりコミュニケーションを取るように私から指示をしています). Koizumi went on, "The ruling parties have also given us proposals to firmly defend our country's independence and peace based on the increasingly severe security environment," and said, "I would like to continue to closely coordinate with the ruling parties" (今後も、与党と緊密に連携していきたいと考えています).

The minister did not disclose the level of defense spending to be included in the revision, the schedule, or the counterparts and number of the talks. Besides the three documents, the press conference also covered structures shaped like Self-Defense Forces aircraft in a Chinese desert, the Russian Foreign Ministry's criticism of a Japanese company's drone sales, the closure of a helicopter landing zone at Camp Schwab in Okinawa, and the schedule of the Finnish defense minister's visit to Japan.

Current three documents fix 2% of GDP in FY2027 and 43 trillion yen over five years

The three security documents refer to the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Buildup Program. The three documents were adopted together in December 2022. The 2024 Defense White Paper published by the Ministry of Defense explains the budget target of the National Security Strategy as follows: "it was decided to take the necessary measures so that in FY2027, the budget level for the fundamental reinforcement of defense capabilities and complementary initiatives combined will reach 2% (about 11 trillion yen) of GDP (FY2022 estimated results, about 560 trillion yen)."

Of this, the white paper projected that expenses covered by the Defense Buildup Program would be about 8.9 trillion yen in FY2027, and that expenses for comprehensively strengthening the defense posture, such as research and development, public infrastructure development, cybersecurity and international cooperation to enhance the deterrence of like-minded countries, would be about 1 trillion yen. It put the portion of Special Action Committee on Okinawa (SACO) and U.S. forces realignment-related expenses for reducing the burden on local communities at about 0.2 trillion yen, and the portion under the jurisdiction of other ministries, such as the Japan Coast Guard budget and UN peacekeeping operations (PKO)-related expenses, at about 0.9 trillion yen. For the baseline GDP, it used the estimated results for FY2022, when the three documents were drawn up.

Chapter 13 of the Defense Buildup Program, "Required Expenses, etc.," set the level of defense buildup needed to implement the plan over the five years from FY2023 to FY2027 at "about 43 trillion yen." Defense-related expenses included in each fiscal year's budget during this period are about 40.5 trillion yen, with the FY2027 share at about 8.9 trillion yen. The contract amount (material costs) for newly required projects was set at about 43.5 trillion yen. As funding sources to stably maintain defense capabilities from FY2027 onward, it cited expenditure reform, use of settlement surpluses, the creation of a defense capability enhancement fund using non-tax revenue, and tax measures.

The Ministry of Defense's outline document divides this money among seven areas: stand-off defense capabilities, integrated air and missile defense capabilities, unmanned asset defense capabilities, cross-domain operation capabilities, mobile deployment capabilities and civil protection, command and control and intelligence-related functions, and sustainability and resiliency. About 5 trillion yen was allocated to stand-off defense capabilities such as long-range missiles, about 2 trillion yen to procurement of ammunition and guided missiles (about 5 trillion yen including other areas), about 9 trillion yen to equipment maintenance and securing operational availability, about 4 trillion yen to strengthening the resilience of facilities, about 2.6 trillion yen to base measures, and about 4 trillion yen to education and training costs and fuel costs. Research and development received about 1 trillion yen, or about 3.5 trillion yen including the portions placed in other areas. For stand-off defense capabilities, the schedule calls for acquiring practical operational capability by FY2027 by accelerating research and development and mass production while establishing a manufacturing base, and for possessing the necessary number of extended-range missiles by roughly 10 years later. The ammunition item carries the goal of "promptly procuring the required quantities of ammunition and guided missiles in order to resolve the situation in which the required quantities are insufficient." The outline document notes that the amounts are under scrutiny and adjustment and may change.

The 2025 Defense White Paper put the combined FY2025 expenses covered by the Defense Buildup Program and expenses for complementary initiatives at 9.9 trillion yen, or about 1.8% of FY2022 GDP.

Prime Minister Takaichi moved up the 2% timeline and set 2026 as the revision target

It was Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (高市早苗) who reset the plan. According to an excerpt of Takaichi's Oct. 24, 2025, policy speech posted by the Ministry of Defense, the prime minister observed that "since the formulation of the 'three documents' including the National Security Strategy in December 2022, various changes in the security environment have also been seen, such as the emergence of new ways of warfare."

The prime minister said, "It is necessary for our country to proactively advance the fundamental reinforcement of defense capabilities," and that "regarding the 'level of 2% of GDP' set in the National Security Strategy, we will take measures ahead of schedule within this fiscal year, together with the supplementary budget." The policy is to move up the target date from FY2027 to FY2025. The prime minister also said, "We will begin considerations with the aim of revising the 'three documents' during next year."

The coalition setup also pushed the revision. According to an article the LDP posted on its website on Nov. 21, 2025, the agreement document between the LDP and Nippon Ishin no Kai, which formed the coalition, included moving up the timing of revising the three documents and abolishing the "five categories" of the Three Principles on Transfer of Defense Equipment. The same article explained that the agreement specified that security-related spending, which had targeted the level of 2% of GDP over FY2022 to FY2027, would be moved up within this fiscal year through the comprehensive economic package being drawn up by the government and ruling parties, together with the supplementary budget. The LDP's Research Commission on Security held a study session one day earlier, on Nov. 20, at which it heard from the Ministry of Defense about the contents of the three strategic documents revised in 2022 and future challenges.

Defense Ministry's transformation headquarters covered revision issues in nine meetings

On Oct. 24, 2025, the day of the policy speech, the Ministry of Defense held the first meeting of the "Headquarters for Promoting Defense Capability Transformation." The headquarters, whose secretariat is the Defense Policy Division of the ministry's Defense Policy Bureau, set as its purposes progress management of defense buildup projects and budget execution management, as well as considerations to accelerate the fundamental reinforcement of defense capabilities and reflect it in the revision of the National Security Strategy and other documents.

The list of meetings on the Ministry of Defense website shows nine meetings. The first meeting (Oct. 24, 2025) covered how to proceed toward revising the three documents, the second (Nov. 21) the security environment and the FY2025 supplementary budget, and the third (Dec. 18) new ways of warfare and efforts to strengthen defense capabilities. This year, the agendas were the human resource base and the defense production and technology base at the fourth (Feb. 19), the direction of defense capability transformation at the fifth (March 4), the direction of transformation and cooperation with like-minded countries at the sixth (March 19), the direction of transformation and efforts to realize fundamental reinforcement at the seventh (April 20), cognitive warfare, strategic communication and a virtuous cycle between the economy and defense at the eighth (June 9), and cooperation with allies and an evaluation of the current plan at the ninth (Aug. 3). No meetings held after Aug. 3 appear in the website list.