Japan's Military Export Policy
Abstract: Japanese military export is partly restricted by the government policy against arms export. This rule is mainly imposed for political reasons and it is supported by domestic factors, such as public opinion. Other forces work to undermine these restrictions for economic, national security, and technological reasons. These conflicting pressures impact on the actors in the Japanese policy making process. The aim of this thesis is to study the consequences of this situation for the restrictive arms export policy. The ramifications of other forms of military exports on this government policy are also examined, Dual-purpose goods and technologies, such as electronics, play important parts in moderns arms. In this field, no Japanese restrictions are in place. A general overview of the Japanese policy making process is given and Japanese defense policy is put into a broader context. The local military industry is described. The developments behind the regulations against arms export are studied. A case study on the 1983 decision to allow exports of arms technology to the U.S. is presented. The study concludes that Japan, in spite of having a strong arms industry, has been restrictive with arms exports. So far, no formal changes of this restrictive policy have taken place. This does not mean that actual policy has not changed, however. The forces working to undermine the restrictions against arms export have been accommodated through changes in the interpretation of the regulations, through a weak control system, as well as through exceptions to existing principles. With increasing exports and the general advancements in the field of dual-purpose technology and goods, the Japanese policy of no arms export has also been somewhat undermined.
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