HONG KONG, April 24 (Xinhua) -- Step by step, move by move, Japan is quietly but proactively dismantling the postwar architecture that has kept it anchored as a pacifist nation for nearly 80 years.
In about a month, a cascade of provocative, tightly coordinated actions -- from honoring war criminals and lifting bans on lethal weapons to deploying offensive missiles and projecting military power abroad -- has laid bare a deliberate, systematic agenda: to rearm without restraint, rewrite history without accountability, and reposition itself as an openly offensive military power.
The pattern is no accident and sounds alarming. It appears to be a carefully crafted blueprint for neo-militarism, putting regional and global peace at increasing risk.
LEGAL EROSION
Article 9 of Japan's constitution, which renounces war and bans "war potential," has long been a legal pillar of the post-World War II order. Now it is under sustained attack.
Earlier this month, Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi, in her first address as party president at the Liberal Democratic Party's national convention, declared that "the time has come" to reform the constitution, saying that "we would like to hold next year's convention with a proposal for a constitutional amendment in sight."
Policy changes are outpacing formal amendments. Passed this week, the new defense equipment rules allow Japan to export lethal weapons without prior Diet approval, tearing down a longstanding firewall against Japan becoming a major arms exporter.
Just days later, Japan's House of Representatives passed a bill to establish a national intelligence committee, aiming to centralize the country's intelligence capabilities under one council.
The Japanese government has reportedly begun considering the nationalization of manufacturing facilities such as defense equipment factories, which is expected to be one of the key topics when Japan moves to revise its three security documents later this year.
The Takaichi administration's attempt to revise the constitution has drawn rounds of protests at home. About 36,000 Japanese people gathered around the parliament building in Tokyo on Sunday to call for the protection of Article 9. It was the second such protest to draw about 30,000 people since April 8.
MILITARY BUILDUP
Japan's military buildup has entered a sharply more aggressive phase.
The country has expanded its defense budget for 14 consecutive years, with its spending plan for fiscal 2026 surpassing 9 trillion yen (about 56.31 billion U.S. dollars), an all-time high. Funding is channeled explicitly into standoff counterattack capabilities, missile stockpiles, unmanned systems, air and missile defense, and defense industrial capacity.
Recently, long-range missiles with counterstrike capabilities have been brought into service for the first time at two Ground Self-Defense Force bases in the country. The upgraded Type 12 land-to-ship guided missile boasts an operational range far exceeding Japan's territorial boundaries.
The Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) is also undergoing a sweeping reorganization, including what Japan calls the "largest-ever reorganization" of the Maritime Self-Defense Force, along with an expansion of operations in the cognitive domain and the enlargement of the Space Operations Group.
Japan is also rapidly turning expanded military muscle into regional power projection. This week, Japan sent some 1,400 personnel, its largest-ever contingent, to the annual joint military drills conducted by the Philippines and the United States, marking the first time the Japan SDF has fully participated in the exercises.
Hiroshi Shiratori, a professor with Japan's Hosei University, said that the reorganization of the SDF and deployment of long-range missiles will further strengthen offensive capabilities and intensify regional tensions.
IDEOLOGICAL ENGINEERING
Underpinning the military push is a continuous campaign to reshape historical memory.
This week, Takaichi made two consecutive offerings to the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, a symbol of Japanese militarism and wartime aggression that enshrines World War II Class‑A war criminals. More than 100 Japanese lawmakers paid group visits.
More insidiously, in the latest batch of high school textbooks authorized by Japan's education ministry for use from the 2027 academic year, certain history textbooks once again appear to downplay, deny, or even glorify the country's history of wartime aggression, as part of efforts to systematically erase public memory of war crimes and legitimize a nationalist, unrepentant worldview.
Meanwhile, it's easy to find Japanese media posting narratives hyping "external threats" and stoking public hostility toward neighboring countries, as Japan's ruling authorities seek to manipulate public opinion by framing a narrative of confrontation, and to carry out ideological mobilization to pave the way for constitutional revision and military expansion, according to observers.
Nurturing militarist ideology leads to rising extremist sentiments. On March 24, an active-duty SDF officer broke into the Chinese embassy in Tokyo with a knife. The National Defense Academy in Japan reportedly has an annual practice of paying group visits to the Yasukuni war shrine, and their textbooks are filled with content distorting and whitewashing Japan's history of aggression during WWII.
The year 2026 marks the 80th anniversary of the beginning of the Tokyo trials, which found Japanese militarism and militarists guilty of launching and executing the war of aggression and related crimes.
"Today, 80 years later, Japanese neo-militarism is rearing its ugly head and gaining strength, threatening to cast a shadow on world peace and security," Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun told a press conference on Wednesday.
"The international community must respond resolutely to prevent any possible resurgence of Japanese militarism," Guo added. ■