Tokyo, Aug 31: Japan’s Defence Ministry Friday sought a record 8.5 trillion yen (USD 59 billion) budget for the next year to fortify its deterrence on southwestern islands against China’s increasing threat, while focusing on unmanned weapons and AI 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 (USD 297 billion) through 2027 to double its annual military spending to around 10 trillion yen, making it the world’s third-largest military spender after the United States and China.
The budget request was approved at the Defence Ministry meeting Friday ahead of 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 (USD 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.
The Self-Defence Force 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 SDF 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 labour shortage,” the ministry said in an interim report on human resources, also released Friday. “We need to build an organisation that can fight in new ways while strengthening defence 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.