In recent weeks, a series of actions by Japan — ranging from provocative military maneuvers and missile deployments to political grandstanding and public displays of militaristic symbols — has proved that the Sanae Takaichi government is resolved to adhere to its dangerous neo-militarist course.
The hyped-up need to respond to the much bandied-about "China threat" was again the pretext for the Japan Self-Defense Forces' participation in the annual "Resolute Dragon 26" joint military exercise with the United States, which began on Saturday in Kyushu and Okinawa. The exercise coincided with reports that the US military plans to deploy the Typhon midrange missile systems in Japan.
When the People's Liberation Army Navy's CNS Liaoning aircraft carrier strike group was conducting far-sea training, which concluded on Monday, the strike group had to respond professionally to repeated close-range Japanese harassment.
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Showing the lengths that the Takaichi government is going to in pursuing its agenda, at last week's G7 summit in France, Takaichi tried to push for a "joint stockpile" of critical minerals to alleviate the so-called "rare earth shortages" Japan's business and military sectors face. Her aim is to mitigate Japan's self-created predicament by forming a united front against China. However, the initiative met a cold reception and merely served to show her readiness to call white black.
Takaichi's flustered reaction at the G7 summit when the US leader brought up Pearl Harbor for the second time, after first mentioning it during her visit to Washington in March, illustrates that she is not forgetful — she simply wants Japan's unsavory wartime past to evade global scrutiny.
Her government is also attempting to stoke narrow nationalist sentiment at home to rally public support for the resurgence of militarism.
During Japan's match with Tunisia at the 2026 FIFA World Cup at Monterrey Stadium in Guadalupe, Mexico, on Saturday, some Japanese fans repeatedly displayed a "rising sun flag", a symbol of Japanese militarism during World War II.
No wonder, it immediately sparked criticism from China, the Republic of Korea and other victim nations of Japan's aggression in history. Displaying the flag is a flagrant violation of FIFA regulations that explicitly prohibit political, offensive, or discriminatory flags, banners and materials inside World Cup stadiums. The presence of such symbols at an international event points to an alarming degree of "normalization" regarding Japan's historical aggression among some segments of the Japanese public.
Taken together, these actions paint a clear and troubling picture: Japan is pushing forward a multipronged neo-militarist agenda. This is reinforced by its recent drive to expand arms exports, collaborate with Western allies on weapons manufacturing and hike military spending to record levels. Meanwhile, right-wing politicians are intensifying their revisionist campaigns — distorting school textbooks to downplay wartime atrocities and making pilgrimages to the Yasukuni Shrine, a site that shamelessly "glorifies" Japan's war criminals as "national heroes".
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These actions are part of a systematic push to undermine Japan's postwar constitutional restraints — driven by right-wing forces' ambitions to transform Japan into a "normal country", if not a fully-fledged war machine.
To that end, they readily paint neighbors, including China, as "security threats", and have even claimed that the Taiwan Strait situation constitutes a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, one they argue demands an armed response.
The international community cannot afford to overlook the seriousness of this moment. Japan is effectively dusting off the same playbook it used in the lead up to and throughout WWII. The country is fast emerging as a significant danger to regional stability. The historical record of unbridled Japanese militarism is one of devastation. To ensure that history does not repeat itself, the world must stay alert and resolutely push back against these reckless moves.
