Japan military needs urgent boost, defence minister says

Japan's defence minister Shinjiro Koizumi said on August 4 that Japan must strengthen its military capabilities with a greater sense of urgency, as the government's annual defence white paper warned of growing risks from China, North Korea and Russia.

Koizumi wrote in the white paper's preface that it was "imperative" for Japan to further reinforce and transform its defence capabilities. He said China and North Korea were strengthening their military capabilities, while China-Russia and Russia-North Korea cooperation was also increasing.

The white paper said China was intensifying activity around Japan and extending operations beyond the first island chain to the second island chain. It listed incidents in 2025, including Chinese aircraft carrier activity and what it called unusually close approaches by Chinese aircraft to Japanese planes in June and July.

Japanese jets scrambled 595 times in the year to March 31, 2026, including 366 sorties against Chinese aircraft and 214 involving Russian planes, according to the white paper. That was down from 704 scrambles the previous year and was the lowest number since at least 2021.

Japan is increasing military spending and security cooperation in Asia, deploying missile launchers to outer islands, seeking counter-strike capabilities and easing weapons export rules. The white paper also warned that problems in Japan's defence production base could affect procurement and innovation.

Koizumi said he and US counterpart Pete Hegseth had exchanged views on the US-Japan alliance, and that Japan was expanding security cooperation with the Philippines, Australia and South Korea. China has expressed concern about what it describes as Japan's return to "new militarism".