This event was recorded April 13, 2022.
Revising Japan’s Security Policy for a Rapidly Changing World
US-Japan Short Takes Series
This event is co-sponsored by the Consulate General of Japan NY Information Office
Post-event summary
Ms. Tatsumi outlined Japan’s main considerations this year as it updates its National Security Strategy for the first time since 2013. The key question, she said, is the extent to which the new strategy – expected to be released in December – breaks away from what she called the “normative restraints” that have informed Japan’s security policy since the end of World War II, including the exclusively self-defense posture of Japan’s military forces and Japan’s refusal to export arms or militarize space.
China’s increasingly aggressive behavior in the East and South China Seas and concerns about the reliability of the US commitment to defend Japan have triggered discussion of such previously taboo topics as whether Japan should have a preemptive strike capability or enter into a “nuclear sharing” agreement with Washington. “The fact that the country is debating this is itself quite revolutionary,” she said.
She noted that, in contrast to Japan’s tepid response when Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, Japan has been “in lockstep with the US and other Western partners” in condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and imposition of economic sanctions against Russia, even providing bullet-proof jackets and other equipment to Ukraine and admitting Ukrainian refugees. The example of Ukraine is also reviving discussion about the adequacy and efficiency of Japan’s defense budget. “If there is any one lesson that people take away from the Ukraine situation, it is that if you don’t demonstrate your willingness to go to bat and fight for your own defense, the international community will not come rally around you,” Ms. Tatsumi said. Another response is the economic security law currently being discussed in Japan’s parliament, which she described as preparation “for possible significant decoupling from the Chinese and Russian economies.” Among other things, the legislators are discussing steps to protect supply chains and sensitive technologies.
About the speaker
Yuki Tatsumi
Yuki Tatsumi is a senior fellow, co-director of the East Asia Program, and director of the Japan Program at the Stimson Center. Before joining Stimson, Ms. Tatsumi worked as a research associate at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) and as special assistant for political affairs at the Embassy of Japan in Washington. In September 2006, she testified before the House Committee on International Relations. She is a recipient of the 2009 Yasuhiro Nakasone Incentive Award. In 2012, she was awarded the Letter of Appreciation from the Ministry of National Policy of Japan for her contribution to advancing mutual understanding between the United States and Japan. A native of Tokyo, Ms. Tatsumi holds a B.A. in liberal arts from the International Christian University in Tokyo, Japan, and an M.A. in international economics and Asian studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) at Johns Hopkins University in Washington.