The Collapse of Pacifism in modern Japan

Over the past thirty years, Japan has been moving away from the pacifist principles enshrined in the national constitution. Since the beginning of Abe's second term as prime minister in 2012 and to this day, this process has been even more intense. The adoption of doctrinal documents under Kishida at the end of 2022 brings Japan to the same level as NATO member states in terms of military spending and increased military cooperation with the United States. The Prime Minister Ishiba continues the course taken to arm the country, which once again demonstrates the process of moving away from the principles of a pacifi st state, which Japan pledged to become after its own defeat, being an aggressor country in World War II. On the eve of the eightieth anniversary of the Victory over militaristic Japan, offi cial Tokyo is not only developing its national military potential, but is also gradually becoming involved in increasingly close cooperation with the military-political bloc NATO, while promoting the inseparability of the security of the Euro-Atlantic region and the Indo-Pacific space, which could become the main argument for creating NATO analogues in Asia in the medium and long term, especially in the event of an even more serious aggravation with China.