Preserving a Way of Life: Japanese National Defense On the Rise

 CPAC Japan holds a special place in the CPAC international sphere. The inaugural 2017 event marked the first time CPAC held an international conference. Since then, CPAC has expanded and started numerous other successful international conferences in Argentina, Hungary, Mexico, and, most recently, Poland, to name a few. CPAC Japan continues to host international speakers from Mexico, Hungary, and the United States, among many other countries, as the conference grows. Speakers at CPAC Japan touch on topics including external threats to the country, economic stagnation, respecting tradition and culture, and the national defense of Japan.  

The national defense of Japan has been a very important topic due to escalating global threats from Russia, China, and North Korea. Speaking at CPAC 2022, Lt. Gen. Kunio Orita pointed out that “Japan is the only country on the planet that is surrounded by three nuclear states,” and all three are positioned against Japan ideologically.  

Additionally, threats to the Taiwan Strait raise concerns since “60% of [Japanese] food comes through it,” according to Lt. Gen. Orita. He is particularly concerned about a military invasion of Taiwan because it will lead to the Japanese islands of Okinawa and Sakishima becoming battlefields. This is not what the Japanese people, military, or allies want to see happen.  

“The important thing right now is that China sees a strong Japan,” says lawyer, political analyst, and conservative author Gordon Chang. To do that, “deterrence and defense capabilities have to be built up now,” states Representative Hiyoshi Aoyagi. However, something stands in the way: national defense spending.  

In 2022, Japan was spending “less than 1%” of its GDP on its national defense. It seems Aoyagi’s call to action may have had an effect, though. As of December 2024, Japan passed a historic 9.9 trillion yen (70 billion USD) defense budget, or 1.8% GDP. The Japanese government’s 2022 goal of reaching the 2% mark by 2027 is clearly within reach.  

This is especially encouraging to the United States. Former Acting Attorney General Matt Whitaker says:  

“We would hope and expect that the country of Japan continues to invest in its defense and, again, have the strategic relationship with the United States and other countries [...] that would bring that kind of heft and counter opposition to the Chinese threat.” 

Whitaker continues by saying, “There is no more important friend and partner, not only in the Pacific, but worldwide, than Japan.” Without increases in vital defense spending, China’s attempts at creating “military misadventure abroad to focus the Chinese people on a foreign enemy” will succeed and cost Japan heavily in more ways than just monetarily.  

“The [Chinese Communist] Party’s grip on power is tenuous,” says Chang, and if Japan wants to protect its people and its way of life, Aoyagi stresses that Japan must “wake up immediately and begin spending money on deterrence.”