Australian and New Zealand defense ministers are about to visit Japan and hold talks with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. According to Japanese media reports, the talks will cover the export of Japanese frigates. Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came to power, he has begun to further ease restrictions on exports of defense equipment and has gone further and further along the path of expanding military weapons, causing concern in various circles in Japan. After World War II, Japan introduced the “Three Principles for Arms Exports,” which once strictly prohibited arms exports. In recent years, Japan has repeatedly broken through the original restrictions. In 2014, Japan introduced the “Three Principles for the Transfer of Defense Equipment” to replace the “Three Principles for Arms Exports,” and drastically relaxed Japan's decades-long restrictions on exporting arms and technology to foreign countries. According to the “Three Principles of Defense Equipment Transfer,” Japan can only export five types of defense equipment, mainly logistics, such as “rescue” and “transportation.” Meanwhile, after Takaichi Sanae came to power, the Japanese government began abolishing restrictions prohibiting the export of lethal weapons. According to Japanese media reports, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Restoration Association will lift restrictions that only allow the export of five types of defense equipment during the 2026 regular Diet session. Japanese media pointed out that blindly promoting arms exports would disrupt the regional military balance, increase tension, “fundamentally empty the pacifism that the Japanese Constitution has always advocated,” and “the Diet must strictly question the government's attitude.”

Australian and New Zealand defense ministers are about to visit Japan and hold talks with Japanese Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi. According to Japanese media reports, the talks will cover the export of Japanese frigates. Since Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi came to power, he has begun to further ease restrictions on exports of defense equipment and has gone further and further along the path of expanding military weapons, causing concern in various circles in Japan. After World War II, Japan introduced the “Three Principles for Arms Exports,” which once strictly prohibited arms exports. In recent years, Japan has repeatedly broken through the original restrictions. In 2014, Japan introduced the “Three Principles for the Transfer of Defense Equipment” to replace the “Three Principles for Arms Exports,” and drastically relaxed Japan's decades-long restrictions on exporting arms and technology to foreign countries. According to the “Three Principles of Defense Equipment Transfer,” Japan can only export five types of defense equipment, mainly logistics, such as “rescue” and “transportation.” Meanwhile, after Takaichi Sanae came to power, the Japanese government began abolishing restrictions prohibiting the export of lethal weapons. According to Japanese media reports, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Japan Restoration Association will lift restrictions that only allow the export of five types of defense equipment during the 2026 regular Diet session. Japanese media pointed out that blindly promoting arms exports would disrupt the regional military balance, increase tension, “fundamentally empty the pacifism that the Japanese Constitution has always advocated,” and “the Diet must strictly question the government's attitude.”