Is Japan on course to become a military superpower?

Japan is shifting from a pacifist country to taking on responsibility for its own defence due to increasing threats to global security.

By 2027 Japan will have the third-largest defence budget in the world.

This will be achieved by increasing defence spending to 2% of GDP, which is about what the UK spends.

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It is a marked change as for the past 30 years, Japan's defence budget has been about 1% of GDP.

That is very low when you consider its neighbours, South Korea, India and Taiwan, have all been spending around 2.5%.

To understand why historically Japan's defence spending has been so low requires a look back to after the Second World War when the country was occupied by the US.

A series of reforms were put in place to make sure it could not wage war again, which included a constitution that stopped Japan from maintaining a standing military for aggressive purposes.

That pacifist stance has shaped Japan's defence policy and kept its military expenditures relatively low.

However, perceived growing threats from China, North Korea and Russia have caused Japan to move from a defensive to an offensive strategy

The move is welcomed by the US which is happy to share the load when it comes to deterring Chinese aggression and not having Japan so reliant on it for security.

So with its increasing budget will Japan become a military superpower?

Perhaps, but will take time for its defence modernisation programs to kick in – these include buying more F-35s, multi-mission stealth frigates and attack submarines.

As you would expect, China, North Korea and Russia are not pleased by Japan's change of stance and that is adding to the tensions in the Asia-Pacific region.