Japan's record annual military budget amid soaring inflation sparks criticism

Japan has announced a plan to increase its military spending by more than a quarter in 2023, including $1.6 billion to buy US-made Tomahawk cruise missiles in what will be the country's record military build-up even as inflation hits a 40-year high.

The budget determined on Friday, which lawmakers have to approve before April, allocates 6.8 trillion yen ($51 billion) for the defense ministry, up approximately 30 percent from last year.

Japan will use almost half of the spending to develop new longer-range missiles including US-made Tomahawks, which will give it the ability to strike targets more than 1,000 kilometers away, said Reuters in a report.

Some 110.4 billion yen will be allocated from the budget for acquiring equipment and training Japanese troops to operate the Tomahawks. The missiles will be deployed in 2026 at the earliest, officials said.

The report pointed out that Tokyo will also increase spending on drones, cyber warfare capabilities, ballistic missile defenses, reconnaissance and communications satellites, warships, and transport aircraft. Japan also plans to buy 16 Lockheed Martin Corp F-35 stealth fighters for 250 billion yen.

This comes a week after the government approved a new security strategy including plans to double military outlays to about 2 percent of gross domestic product over five years and make Japan the world's third-biggest military spender after the United States and China.

Japan announced a $320 billion plan to buy missiles capable of striking China, flexing its muscles under the US plan to mobilize against their common foe.

The rise in military spending also comes amid a push among Japanese leaders to discard the country's pacifist constitution despite opposition from the public.

The constitution, which has been in place in its original form since it was drafted following Japan's World War Two defeat in 1947, was engineered to prevent the country from waging war and maintaining a military.

Military record amid sky-rocketing inflation

The record increase in military spending comes at a time when prices in Japan have hit the highest in four decades.

According to data released by the internal affairs ministry, core consumer prices in Japan, excluding volatile fresh food costs and including energy costs, rose 3.7 percent in November on an annualized basis, marking the fastest pace since December 1981.

An AFP report said that prices jumped the most for processed food items and were also higher for electricity and durable goods like air conditioners.

Commenting on the inflation rates, senior economist Koya Miyamae said that the core consumer price index (CPI) rose in November due to rises in food prices and gas.

“The index will likely rise further, nearing or potentially rising above four percent in December," he told AFP.

In order to pay for his military spending surge, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said he plans to raise taxes. However, he has yet to provide a detailed plan of how Japan will fund the build-up.

The US has been the key driver in spawning the seeds of militarism in Japan again as it seeks to mobilize allies in Asia to keep China in check.

China has vastly upgraded its military infrastructure in recent years amid the constant US threats and interventions and has repeatedly warned the US against extending its military presence in Asia and the Pacific.

Beijing says the United States military presence is a source of regional instability, reminding that Taiwan is an inevitable part of the Chinese territory and is an issue that is purely China's internal affair, which won't stand for any foreign interference.

Amid ongoing tensions between Beijing and Washington over the US political and military interference in Taipei, Russia was an ardent supporter of China.

Russia slams Tokyo’s military build-up

On a related note, Russia accused Japan on Thursday of abandoning decades of pacifist policy and embracing "unbridled militarization".

In response to a $320-billion military plan announced by Japan’s Prime Minister Fumio Kishida last week, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said "It can be clearly seen that Tokyo has embarked on the path of an unprecedented build-up of its own military power, including the acquisition of strike potential.”

Russia said such a move will “inevitably provoke new security challenges and will lead to increased tension in the Asia-Pacific region,” criticizing Japan’s military spending which has been increasing despite the growth of structural imbalances in the state budget.”

Relations between Tokyo and Moscow have long been overshadowed by an unresolved dispute over a group of Pacific islands. The Kuril Islands, located in the Sea of Okhotsk, lie fewer than 10 kilometers from Japan’s Hokkaido.

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