Japan National Security Council

Rule Changes

Gatekeeper for all lethal weapons export approvals

Japan banned the export of lethal weapons in 1967 and tightened the restriction to a near-total prohibition in 1976. On April 21, 2026, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet scrapped those limits, allowing Japanese companies to sell fighter jets, missiles, warships, and combat drones to 17 partner countries for the first time since World War II. Each sale of a lethal system must still pass a case-by-case review by Japan's National Security Council, and buyers must pledge to use the equipment consistent with the United Nations Charter. On the same day, Takaichi sent a ritual sacred-tree offering to the Yasukuni Shrine — which enshrines Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals — triggering a separate Chinese diplomatic complaint that compounded Beijing's condemnation of the arms export decision.

Updated 38 minutes ago