By 2027, Japan wants to raise defense spending to 2% of GDP. That comes to around 81 billion dollars or 11 trillion yen. In the current fiscal year 2022, military spending amounted to 5.4 trillion yen ($40 billion), or roughly 1.24% of GDP. According to analysts, in order to reach that goal by 2027 Japan would need to raise an additional 4 trillion yen (about $29.6 billion) every year, of which 1 trillion ($7.4 billion) is nowhere to be found.
The government is considering raising corporate taxes to be receiving 70–80 billion yen ($518–592.6 million) annually, taxing tobacco products, particularly electronic cigarettes, which are currently taxed less than “paper” cigarettes, to raise another 20–30 billion yen ($148 million), and redistributing funds for reconstruction to raise a total of 70–80 billion yen ($518–592.6 million).
The Defense Ministry of Japan intends to ask for 5.595 trillion yen (about $41.4 billion) in funding for the upcoming fiscal year (April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024), which would be a record-high amount. Additionally, the amount is not final; it only represents the expenses that the Defense Ministry is willing to make public in particular contexts. As a result, experts and the media predict that total defense spending for the upcoming fiscal year would be close to 6.5 trillion yen (about $48 billion).
source: www3.nhk.or.jp
