Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Rule Changes

Japan's largest defense contractor, building frigates for Australia

Japan banned the export of lethal weapons in 1967 and tightened the restriction to a near-total prohibition in 1976. On April 21, 2026, Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's cabinet scrapped those limits, allowing Japanese companies to sell fighter jets, missiles, warships, and combat drones to 17 partner countries for the first time since World War II. Each sale of a lethal system must still pass a case-by-case review by Japan's National Security Council, and buyers must pledge to use the equipment consistent with the United Nations Charter. On the same day, Takaichi sent a ritual sacred-tree offering to the Yasukuni Shrine — which enshrines Japan's war dead, including convicted war criminals — triggering a separate Chinese diplomatic complaint that compounded Beijing's condemnation of the arms export decision.

Updated Apr 22

Force in Play

Lead manufacturer of Japan's new long-range missile systems

For eight decades, Japan's military existed under a constitutional leash: no offensive weapons, no power projection, no ability to strike an enemy beyond its own shores. That era ended on March 9, 2026, when trucks carrying upgraded Type-12 missiles rolled into Camp Kengun in Kumamoto under cover of darkness. Built by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, the missiles can hit targets roughly 1,000 kilometers away—enough to reach mainland China—and represent Japan's first domestically developed long-range strike weapons.

Updated Mar 9