On the current revision of three key documents defining the future of Japan’s self-defense
The government and ruling parties proactively worked towards revisions of the three
key defense documents, including the National Security Strategy, and these have
recently received Cabinet approval. At the time of writing of this paper, Russian aggression
against Ukraine, China's military actions, and North Korea's intermittent
missile launches have had a major impact on the general public’s awareness of national
security. Given the current situation, it is reasonable to assume that the security
environment around Japan will continue to deteriorate. Japan has long maintained
an exclusively defense-oriented policy. Thus, in the event of an armed attack,
Japan is constrained to using force to the “minimum extent necessary” beyond
proportionality.
