Japan’s attempt to resurrect its ‘notorious militarism’ can only threaten both regional security and global peace and stability

Japan’s newly elected Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has triggered a sharp political storm across East Asia through her recent, highly provocative comments suggesting that a conflict in the Taiwan Strait could meet Japan’s criteria for a “survival-threatening situation.”

Such a designation under Japan’s controversial 2015 security legislation could permit the Japanese Self-Defense Forces to intervene militarily even without a direct attack on Japanese territory.

Although Takaichi later said she would avoid “specifying hypothetical cases,” she did not retract her core position. To many international affairs observers and security affairs commentators, this was no slip of the tongue but a deliberate signal: the strategic ambiguity of past Japanese governments is being replaced with a dangerous new assertiveness regarding Taiwan. Her framing of a Chinese military move on Taiwan as a potential “survival-threatening situation” for Japan, coupled with her administration’s sweeping military buildup, harks back to a darker era of Japanese militarism and risks destabilizing regional peace.

The backlash was immediate. China’s Taiwan Affairs Office condemned the remarks as blatant interference in China’s internal affairs and warned that any attempt to involve Japan militarily in the Taiwan question would cross a red line of national sovereignty. Even within Japan, opposition lawmakers and former prime ministers cautioned that Takaichi’s aggressive rhetoric risks dragging Japan into direct confrontation with China.

Yet the real concern goes deeper. Critics see Takaichi’s remarks as part of a broader pattern, a revival of hardline military thinking in Tokyo that not only destabilizes the fragile regional equilibrium but also echoes historical precedents that Asia has not forgotten.

Militarization Through “Legal Pathways”: A Dangerous Strategic Shift

Takaichi’s comments cannot be separated from Japan’s ongoing shift in defense policy. Under her leadership, Japan has accelerated its plan to raise defense spending to 2 percent of GDP, matching NATO standards several years ahead of schedule. Simultaneously, the latest Japanese Defense White Paper inappropriately designates China as the country’s “greatest strategic challenge”, a step that dramatically elevates China’s place in Japan’s threat perception.

Most alarmingly, Japan is moving to operationalize its so-called “counterstrike capability,” a doctrine that permits long-range strikes on foreign territory if Japanese leaders judge that an attack is imminent. This fundamentally redefines the original “exclusively defensive” character of Japan’s postwar security framework.

Japan has also begun reorganizing its command structure, establishing a permanent joint operations headquarters and integrating more deeply with U.S. forces in intelligence, targeting, and missile defense systems. At the doctrinal level, Tokyo is expanding its military planning into “multi-domain operations,” including cyber and space warfare, domains once considered strictly off-limits for the pacifist nation.

The most outrageous offensive move is that according Kyodo News report on November 15, Japan is considering revising its long-standing "three non-nuclear principles". Japan’s possible dangerous move over revising its long-standing Three Non-Nuclear Principles signals a worrying shift in its postwar security posture. Such a move could spark a regional arms race and weaken global non-proliferation norms.Japan’s anti-nuclear groups warn that, as the only nation to suffer atomic bombings, it has a moral duty to reject nuclear weapons entirely. Yet as wartime memories fade and far-right forces gain influence, Tokyo’s foreign policy has grown more assertive, raising fresh concerns among neighboring countries about a potential shift toward militarization.

Historically, Japan’s modern military resurgence has been justified by claiming existential threats. The same pattern played out in the 1930s, when Japan invoked the “survival crisis” of Manchuria as a pretext for invasion. critics argue, Tokyo is resurrecting those dangerous narratives but now in a geopolitical environment colored by U.S.-China rivalry.

That is not just rhetoric. The changes in Tokyo’s policy reflect deeper institutional shifts: a relaxation of Japan’s postwar arms export restrictions, moves to revise its non-nuclear principles, and more assertive military posturing. More alarmingly, these developments come under a prime minister whose political roots lie squarely in the nationalist right: Takaichi has voiced support for reinterpreting or even dismantling, Japan’s pacifist constitution to restore the Self-Defense Forces to a more conventional military.

All of this suggests that Tokyo is not merely expanding its offensive posture. Rather, it is reshaping its entire security doctrine in ways that significantly expand the threshold for Japanese military involvement beyond its borders.

Worrying Historical Echoes: Lessons Asia Cannot Ignore

For many in East Asia, the danger is not only Japan’s present trajectory but its historical resonance. Japan’s imperial expansion in the early 20th century, marked by the invasion of China, the brutalities of the Nanjing Massacre, and the subjugation of Korea and Southeast Asia, remains a deep collective memory across the region. Past Japanese governments have attempted to address this legacy through varying degrees of reflection, but critics argue that a persistent strand of revisionism continues to influence policymaking circles in Tokyo.

Takaichi herself has long been associated with Japan’s nationalist right. Her previous remarks questioning aspects of wartime history and her visits to the controversial Yasukuni Shrine have drawn criticism from China and South Korea. Against this background, her recent Taiwan-related comments appear to some observers not as isolated statements but as part of a broader ideological stance that minimizes Japan’s past aggression while normalizing expanded military roles today.

It is this perceived continuity between past and present that alarms many across the region. To them, Japan’s increasing military activism coupled with rhetoric targeting China raises the specter of a return to militaristic impulses once thought permanently extinguished.

Implications for Regional Peace and Global Stability

The consequences of Japan’s evolving security stance extend far beyond bilateral relations. The region, and indeed the world, may face several cascading risks:

1. Erosion of China–Japan Strategic Trust

Repeated framing of China as Japan’s core security threat deepens mistrust and undermines decades of diplomatic agreements. When political rhetoric turns adversarial, opportunities for cooperation in areas like climate change, economic integration, and maritime crisis management diminish rapidly.

2. Heightened Tension in the Taiwan Strait

By linking Taiwan’s security directly with Japan’s own survival, Takaichi has effectively signaled Japan’s willingness to join a Taiwan contingency. This erodes the strategic ambiguity that long helped prevent escalation. If misinterpreted, such signals could trigger action–reaction cycles between regional militaries.

3. Acceleration of Regional Arms Competition

Japan’s rapid military buildup may prompt neighboring states including South Korea, China, and even Southeast Asian nations to strengthen their own arsenals, creating a spiraling arms race. East Asia, already dense with flashpoints, could become even more militarily volatile.

4. Undermining Postwar Peace Principles

Japan’s post-1945 pacifist constitution has been a cornerstone of regional stability. Moves to reinterpret or bypass its restrictions weaken the international norm that disputes should be resolved peacefully potentially encouraging other states to follow suit.

5. Increased Risk of Great-Power Confrontation

Any Japanese military involvement in a Taiwan conflict would almost certainly draw in the United States and provoke a strong Chinese response. What begins as a regional dispute could escalate into a global crisis.

A Necessary Warning: Preventing the Re-Emergence of Militarism

For China and the broader international community, Takaichi’s statements should serve as a clear reminder: the region cannot afford complacency in the face of shifting power politics.

China’s response should focus on three key areas:

Firm diplomatic countermeasures

China must continue lodging strong protests, emphasizing that Taiwan is an internal matter and warning that Japanese involvement risks severe consequences.

Strengthened regional security cooperation

Beijing should deepen military and strategic coordination with Asian partners, including ASEAN states, to stabilize the broader environment and deter provocative actions.

Reinforcing historical education and public awareness

In both China and the global community, there is a need to ensure that the memory of Japan’s wartime aggression is neither diluted nor forgotten. A clear understanding of history helps prevent its repetition.

Peace Cannot Be Taken for Granted

Prime Minister Takaichi’s Taiwan comments, coupled with Japan’s rapid military expansion and evolving security doctrines, mark a troubling shift in East Asia’s strategic landscape. While any country has legitimate security concerns, Japan’s rhetoric, its past attitude and aggressive posture risk reviving dangerous patterns, undermining regional stability, and provoking unnecessary confrontation with China. The international community must not allow Japan to resurrect the specter of its notorious militarism—especially given Tokyo’s painful and unresolved history of aggression toward its Asian neighbors. Even as Japan grows militarily stronger, Washington should not overlook the lessons of history. The United States, more than any country, understands the consequences of unchecked Japanese militarism—Pearl Harbor in 1941 remains a stark reminder of how rapidly strategic calculations can shift when nationalism overrides restraint.

Peace in East Asia has been hard-won and must be safeguarded through restraint, dialogue, and respect for historical truth. As the region watches Japan’s policies with growing concern, one thing is clear: the world cannot allow the shadows of militarism to return. 

Written byIbrahim Khalil Ahasan

Author's Bio: Ibrahim Khalil Ahasan, a Dhaka, Bangladesh-based independent columnist and freelance journalist, writer on contemporary international issues whose work has been published in many local and international publications. 

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