Overview
- In her first policy speech, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi said defense spending will reach 2% of GDP within the current fiscal year, pulling forward the 2027 target.
- She ordered revisions to three core security documents, including the National Security Strategy, by the end of next year to enable a faster military buildup.
- Tokyo is arranging the first ministerial talks of the new government, with Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi expected to meet U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth in Tokyo on Wednesday.
- Reporting says Washington is pressing Tokyo to go beyond 2%, with figures around 3.5% cited, as President Trump visits Oct. 27–29 for a summit likely to include weapons purchases and alliance burden-sharing.
- Takaichi, governing with Ishin after Komeito’s exit and short of a lower-house majority, paired the defense push with aggressive fiscal steps such as a supplementary budget, scrapping the provisional gasoline tax, and raising the nontaxable income threshold, as inflation hit 2.9% in September.