Why Japan Passes the Buck: Japan’s Military Buildup Faces Resistance

Over the weekend, Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida hosted the annual G7 summit in Hiroshima. Nuclear proliferation, Russia’s war on Ukraine, and the rise of China dominated conversation between the leaders of the world’s most advanced democratic economies. Kishida hosting the summit is significant: Japan is reinventing its role on the global stage, what TIME Magazine recently called “Japan’s Choice.” The country must choose between maintaining its decades-old pacifist foreign policy or pursuing a more assertive role. This week, the Institute for Global Affairs’ Mark Hannah sits down with Japan security experts Yuki Tatsumi and Professor Tom Le to unpack the importance of the US-Japan relationship and discuss why, despite Tokyo and Washington’s desire for a more assertive Japan, cultural and demographic factors complicate the buildup of Japan’s military.

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This podcast episode includes references to the Eurasia Group Foundation, now known as the Institute for Global Affairs.