Japan could soon sell weapons overseas, including fighter jets, in major shift from pacifist policies introduced after World War II.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Published On 21 Apr 2026<\/span>21 Apr 2026<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has lifted a ban on exporting lethal weapons, including fighter jets, in a major shift to Japan\u2019s pacifist post-World War II constitution.<\/p>\n In a post on X announcing the changes on Tuesday, Takaichi did not specify which weapons Japan would now sell overseas. However, Japanese newspapers said the changes would encompass fighter jets, missiles and warships, which Japan has recently agreed to build for Australia.<\/p>\n list of 4 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n \u201cWith this amendment, transfers of all defence equipment will in principle become possible,\u201d Takaichi said, adding that \u201crecipients will be limited to countries that commit to use in accordance with the UN Charter\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn an increasingly severe security environment, no single country can now protect its own peace and security alone.\u201d<\/p>\n At least 17 countries will be eligible to buy weapons manufactured in Japan under the changes, Japan\u2019s Chunichi newspaper reported, adding that this list may be expanded if more countries enter into bilateral agreements with Japan.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n Previous rules, introduced in 1967 and enacted in 1976, had limited Japanese military exports to non-lethal arms, such as those used for surveillance and mine sweeping, Japan\u2019s Asahi newspaper reported.<\/p>\n Asahi also reported that Japan will still restrict exporting weapons to countries where fighting is currently taking place, but exemptions are allowed under \u201cspecial circumstances\u201d where Japan\u2019s national security needs are taken into account.<\/p>\n Countries interested in buying Japanese-made weapons include Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia, which recently signed a major defence pact with the United States, Chunichi reported, citing Japan\u2019s Ministry of Defence.<\/p>\n Tokyo\u2019s change in policy comes soon after Japan and Australia signed a $7bn deal that will see Japan\u2019s Mitsubishi Heavy Industries build the first three of 11 warships for the Australian navy.<\/p>\n The changes announced by Takaichi on Tuesday come amid reports that the Japanese prime minister had sent a ritual offering to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo on the occasion of its spring festival.<\/p>\n Built in the 1800s to honour Japan\u2019s war dead, the shrine includes the names of more than 1,000 convicted Japanese war criminals from World War II, including 14 who were found guilty of \u201cClass A\u201d crimes.<\/p>\n Visits by Japanese officials to the shrine have long been considered insensitive to the people of\u00a0China, South Korea, and other countries that Japanese soldiers brutalised during the war.<\/p>\n After the defeat of Axis countries, including the bombing of Japan\u2019s Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II, Japan introduced a new constitution renouncing participation in war.<\/p>\n However, Takaichi, considered a China \u201chawk\u201d and sometimes referred to as Japan\u2019s \u201cIron Lady\u201d, is among a number of recent Japanese leaders to have pushed back against the country\u2019s pacifist stance.<\/p>\n Japan could soon sell weapons overseas, including fighter jets, in major shift from pacifist policies introduced after World War II. Published On 21 Apr 202621 Apr 2026 The cabinet of Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi has lifted a ban on exporting lethal weapons, including fighter jets, in a major shift to Japan\u2019s pacifist post-World War […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":19735,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-19734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-asia-pacific"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/19735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![](\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/05\/021059e7440d45cba3c79e9ae03f3bbf_6.jpeg?resize=96%2C96&quality=80)
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