Japan's quiet reawakening: From pacifist power to strategic deterrent
Japan's first missile test on home soil marks a pivotal shift in its post-WWII pacifist stance, reflecting rising tensions with China and a recalibrated global security order.;

The missile text by Japan (Photo: @AQuietAnalyst / X)
On June 24, Japan test-fired a missile on Japanese territory for the first time, as a part of its military buildup to deter China, a stark testimony to how far the world has travelled since the days of World War II, and the altered equations in global politics that prevail now.
It may be recalled that as one of the three defeated axis powers of that war, Japan saw the dismantling of its military, and had to pledge to refrain from ever rearming itself, renounce war and prohibit the maintenance of land, sea and air forces. However, Japan was later permitted by the allied forces to adopt a pacifist Constitution allowing the use of force for self-defence only.
Following the outbreak of the Korean War in 1950, Japan established the National Police Reserve, which eventually evolved into the Self-Defence Forces (SDF). Soon enough, with the onset of the Cold War, and the alarming rise and self-assertion by China, the US-led West shifted from a demilitarisation strategy to make Japan a bulwark against communism. The first major break from the earlier policy came in 2022, when Japan adopted a security strategy calling for a closer Japan-US alliance.
The outcome was the Japan-US Security Treaty, whereby the US is obligated to defend Japan, while Japan is obligated to provide bases for the US; Japan also covers part of the cost of stationing US forces.
By relying on the US military, Japan was able to keep defence spending down and achieve rapid economic growth under a policy of light armament and an emphasis on the economy. But then, the realisation had gradually dawned upon the nation that it needed to push toward a more self-sufficient military and enhance its strike-back capabilities as a deterrence to China's increasingly assertive naval activity in the South China Sea.
Japan is also concerned about growing joint military exercises around Japanese coasts between China and Russia, with the latter being engaged in territorial disputes with Japan. Previously, due to space limitations and safety concerns, Japan conducted missile tests in the United States and Australia, but that the June 24 test-fire was conducted on Japanese soil is yet another testimony to the altered equations of the contemporary global political scenario.
Currently, not only is Japan deploying long-range cruise missiles, including Tomahawks purchased from the US, it is also developing Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles, and building a missile-firing range on its easternmost island in the western Pacific to counter China.
After the Gulf War in 1991, Japan dispatched Maritime Self-Defence Force minesweepers to the Persian Gulf, opening participation in international peacekeeping operations, and expanding the SDF's range of activities overseas. Indeed, for that nation the wheel has come full circle, and it seems well on its way to re-assuming the military might it possessed before World War II.