Japan’s defence ministry seeks record budget as it faces growing threat from China

Japan’s Defense Ministry on Friday sought a record 8.5 trillion yen (US$59 billion) budget for the next year to fortify its deterrence on southwestern islands against China’s increasing threat.

Defense officials were also focusing on unmanned weapons and artificial intelligence to make up for the declining number of servicemembers as a result of the country’s shrinking population.

The ministry’s request for 2025 marks the third year of Japan’s rapid five-year military buildup plan under the government’s ongoing security strategy. Japan aims to spend 43 trillion yen (US$297 billion) through 2027 to double its annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen, making it the world’s No. 3 military spender after the United States and China.

The budget request was approved at the Defense Ministry meeting Friday before a submission to the Finance Ministry for negotiations through December.

Japan has been rapidly building up the defense of the southwestern region in recent years amid China’s growing military threats and tension in the regional seas.

China has escalated clashes with the Philippine coast guards in disputed waters in the South China Sea and sent a fleet of coast guard boats to routinely violate territorial waters around Japanese-controlled disputed islands in the East China Sea that Beijing also claims.

A hefty 970 billion yen (US$6.7 billion) of the budget request for 2025 covers the cost of bolstering strike-back capability with the development and purchases of long-range missiles and equipment for their launch, including from an Aegis-class destroyer. About one-third of it goes to a satellite constellation aimed at bolstering the capability to detect missile-related activity, as North Korea, China and Russia develop hypersonic missiles that are harder to detect and track.

While pushing military buildup, Japan must deal with shrinking troop numbers and is focusing on developing and buying more drones for surveillance and combat, requesting 103 billion yen (US$710 million). It also seeks 314 billion yen (US$2.17 billion) to build three new multi-purpose compact destroyers that require 90 crew members, less than half the crew size currently needed.

Japanese defense officials say combat drones are “game changers” that can be on hourslong missions and lower human losses in combat, and they consider it a main pillar of Japan’s ongoing military buildup. The unmanned weapons can also help a country struggling with its aging and shrinking population.

Japan has been struggling to fulfill Self-Defense Force, or SDF, troop levels at 247,000 people.

The SDF has faced difficulty attracting young applicants in recent years and fulfilled only half of its recruiting target of 19,598 last year, making it the lowest in the 70 years of its history. Last year, 6,258 mid-career personnel left, the highest number in 30 years.

“Due to declining childbirths and working age population, it is inevitable that Japan will face a society of serious labor shortage,” the ministry said in an interim report on human resources, also released Friday. “We need to build an organization that can fight in new ways while strengthening defense power.”

Shrinking younger population and private companies that offer better salaries and benefits make “the environment surrounding recruiting servicemembers the worst since the end of World War II,” the ministry report said.

It requested 18 billion yen (US$124 million) to introduce an AI surveillance system at 40 SDF bases across Japan, aiming to free up 1,000 service personnel. It is also asking 4.3 billion (US$29.7 million) for automated supply storage for launch in 2027 in Okinawa.

In the interim report released Friday, the ministry called for reforms to improve salary, working environment, more training and learning opportunities, as well as support for working mothers to attract more women.

The ministry has been hit by a series of revelations of sexual assaults, harassment and abuse of power in recent years. Its internal investigation last year criticized cover-up attempts and a lack of sense of responsibility among supervisors. It came under fire in July over the leak of classified information and corruption scandals.