The Cabinet of the Kishida government has adopted the new National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy, and the Defense Buildup Plan. These three documents are a significant departure from Japanese traditional thinking of security and defense, representing a new way of defining national interests and the methods to defend these interests. However, because these documents are designed from what is "needed" rather than what is "available", there are many shortcomings in the capabilities they outline. The success of the strategy in these documents depends on whether the government can overcome these shortcomings.

Kazuto Suzuki, Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of Tokyo, Director, Institute of Geoeconomics at International House of Japan