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As Japan pours billions into defense dreaming of arms-led prosperity, many warn history’s darkest chapters offer a sobering lesson_我的网站

A |     Editor's Note:
August 15 marked the 81st anniversary of Japan's announcement of its unconditional surrender. Eighty-one years on, Japan, the defeated aggressor in World War II (WWII), has not only failed to conduct a thorough reckoning with its wartime aggression, but has instead intensified its drive to expand military power. In its newly released 2026 Defense White Paper on August 4, Japan says that "defense business not only possesses a high degree of public value by directly contributing to the protection of citizens' lives, but also contributes to Japan's economic growth through ripple effects into the civilian sector."
This line of argument, along with Japan's defense policies in recent years, in fact reflects a form of "military Keynesianism" - the use of military spending as a means to stimulate overall economic development. However, this logic of "trying to boost the economy through military buildup" has faced widespread skepticism inside Japan. Some scholars have also warned that Japan pursued a similar policy during WWII, which led to the expansion of the military-industrial complex (MIC) and, in objective terms, fueled the scale of Japan's war of aggression, bringing profound suffering to the peoples of Asia and the world.

    People take part in a protest march in Tokyo, opposing politicians making ritual offerings to or visiting the notorious Yasukuni Shrine, on August 15, 2026. Photo: cnsphoto
Pursuing a military Keynesian path
Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper, at 598 pages, has set a record as the longest in history. More alarming than its length, however, is the document's first-ever explicit definition of the development of the defense industry as an effective means of promoting "economic growth." 
"The white paper 'stresses that investment in defense benefits the wider economy and people's lives,' according to a Defense Ministry presentation document," reported Reuters on August 4. "That message aligns with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's broader use of strategic state spending in an effort to drive economic growth," Reuters commented. Previously, The Asahi Shimbun warned in an opinion piece that this entanglement of defense buildup with economic policy will, over time, slide into "military Keynesianism."
"Military Keynesianism" refers to the use of military spending as a tool to stimulate overall economic development. Since the Takaichi administration took office, Japan has been expanding its domestic defense market through year-on-year increases in the defense budget, while at the same time opening up international sales channels for defense production by relaxing export controls - thereby systematically pursuing a military Keynesian path.
In fiscal 2026, Japan's defense budget for the first time exceeded 9 trillion yen ($56.5 billion). Its defense-related spending has already reached 2 percent of GDP, according to The Japan Times. This not only means Japan's defense budget has risen for 14 consecutive years, but also indicates that the government is using fiscal stimulus to artificially create a large and relatively stable "arms market." The resulting closed-loop logic is clear: the government increases defense spending to expand procurement; defense companies receive orders and scale up production; and, through industrial-chain spillovers, related industries also expand output.
As Japan's new Defense White Paper says, higher defense expenditures will not only significantly increase orders in the defense industry, but also reinforce the defense production base through measures such as introducing mechanisms to assess corporate efforts and calculate appropriate profits for companies. These measures, the paper claims, are expected to generate economic ripple effects, "as well as technological ripple effects into the civilian sector." 
What is even more alarming is that Japan is systematically removing the institutional barriers to the growth of its defense industry. 
One long-standing challenge in postwar Japan has been the limited size of its domestic defense market and restrictions on arms exports, which have kept defense firms' profits relatively low and prompted some major companies to withdraw from parts of the military supply business, observers pointed out.
In 2022, however, Japan elevated the defense industry to a national strategic priority in its three key security documents, National Security Strategy, National Defense Strategy and Defense Buildup Program. In 2023, it enacted the Act on Enhancing Defense Production and Technology Bases, allowing the government to sustain and reinforce defense manufacturing through subsidies, capital investment and other measures. And in April this year, the Takaichi administration formally lifted the ban on exports of lethal weapons, fully opening the door for Japan's defense industry to enter global markets.
Together, these moves show that Japan is no longer content with relying on its Self-Defense Forces' limited procurement needs. It seeks to turn itself into a global arms supplier. This will inevitably intensify the regional arms race and seriously destabilize the security landscape in East Asia, warned some experts reached by the Global Times.
Of particular concern is that the focus of Japan's military Keynesianism has shifted from traditional weapons such as guns and artillery, to high-tech fields including artificial intelligence (AI) and drones, with an explicit emphasis on civil-military integration. Japan's new Defense White Paper places special emphasis on AI and unmanned systems, which are expected to become central issues in the year-end revision of its three key security documents.
Widespread criticism and concern
Japan's bid to jolt economic growth through higher military spending amounts to little more than a wishful gamble that "guns for butter" can be turned on its head. But when the fiscal question of "where will the money come from?" collides with public anxiety over "where is people's livelihood headed?", voices from international media outlets to Japanese scholars, lawmakers and ordinary citizens alike, are warning that the narrative of arms-led prosperity is not only unlikely to work, but could also drag Japan's economy into dangerous territory, observers noted.
Japan's fiscal expenditure faces "competing demands on the public purse," "but Takaichi has yet to explain clearly how she would pay for a further expansion without adding pressure on Japan's already stretched public finances," Reuters said on August 4.
In a Japanese-language editorial piece on August 8, The Asahi Shimbun pushed the debate further toward livelihoods, saying that military expansion would place a direct strain on the daily lives of Japanese people. The piece also cited a United Nations study saying that reallocating the same resources to education and healthcare rather than the military could generate more jobs. The International Monetary Fund has also warned that rising defense spending may, in the medium term, increase economic vulnerabilities, including through wider fiscal deficits, it said. 
 Opposition within Japan's academic circles runs equally fierce. Yuko Tanaka, a professor emeritus at Hosei University, argues the Takaichi administration's military buildup policies are driving Japan's economy toward collapse. The continuous depreciation of the yen and climbing government bond yields have rendered its "responsible proactive fiscal policies" unsustainable in the eyes of markets. If military expansion takes precedence over people's livelihoods, Japan's economy will fall into prolonged stagnation and recession, culminating in bankruptcy, Tanaka told the Global Times. 
Strong criticism also echoes across Japan's political arena. House of Representatives member Joji Yamamoto accused the Takaichi administration of doubling defense spending and lifting bans on weapons exports, while shifting healthcare costs onto patients and eroding elderly care systems. If left unchecked, Japan will gradually turn into a nation sustained by the arms trade, seriously violating people's right to subsistence guaranteed by law, Yamamoto told the Global Times. 
A risky gamble

Military Keynesianism is not only unlikely to sustain long-term economic growth in Japan, but also carries hidden security risks. Koji Sonoda, deputy editor at The Asahi Shimbun's Political News Section, recently cautioned that if defense budget expansion, initially justified by a deteriorating security environment, comes instead to serve the goal of economic growth through industrial promotion, the risk grows that spending will lose any effective restraint. 
History has already proven this point. The global economic depression of 1929 triggered the Showa Depression in Japan, pushing the country's economy to the brink of collapse. At the time, rather than pursuing structural reforms, Japan's political and military leadership shifted the national economy onto a wartime footing, using military spending to boost demand and mask unemployment.
Meng Mingming, assistant researcher at the Institute of Japanese Studies of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times that in 1932, Korekiyo Takahashi, Japan's then Finance Minister, rolled out stimulus policies including yen depreciation and expanded fiscal outlays. Massive military spending paired with public works projects lifted domestic demand and enabled Japan to recover from the recession earlier than many nations. Takahashi became known as "Japan's Keynes."
However, the prosperity driven by fiscal deficits and military-industrial expansion was ultimately a shortsighted fix. Meng pointed out that, first, while wartime demand boosted Japan's heavy chemical and weapons manufacturing sectors to some extent, most military output was removed from the social reproduction cycle and constituted sheer waste. Second, heavy chemical industries relied heavily on resources such as oil, which Japan lacked domestically. This created a vicious cycle: military demand expanded heavy industrial capacity; that expansion increased Japan's dependence on overseas resources and markets; rising resource needs drove further military expansion to secure supply chains; and that expansion in turn required even more defense spending, further militarizing the economy. Finally, a coalition of interest formed among heavy industrial capitalists, emerging zaibatsu and the military. Military adventurism was no longer driven solely by the armed forces, but was backed by industrial and financial power.
    People hold placards reading "No war" and "Stop constitutional revision, military expansion" during the Grand Constitution Rally 2026 to mark Constitution Memorial Day in Tokyo on May 3, 2026. Photo: vcgOnce the narrative that "military demand brings prosperity" gained mainstream acceptance, cutting military spending became a political taboo. Takahashi later sought to rein in military budgets and was assassinated in the February 26 Incident of 1936. His successor as finance minister, Eiichi Baba, treated military expansion as a long-term necessity. After the Lugou Bridge Incident in 1937, Japan enacted the National Mobilization Law in 1938, ushering in a full wartime system. "History shows the defense industry is never a silver bullet for economic prosperity," Meng said. Growth driven by arms expansion only leads to economic distortion, depletion of national strength and eventual self-destruction, he said. 
Currently, many Japanese citizens have recognized the dangers of the Takaichi administration's policies and taken to the streets to protest. 
Kazuo Adachi, a sexagenarian, told the Global Times in Japan that behind the administration's claim that the defense industry fuels growth lies the profit motive of the military-industrial complex. From policy deregulation launched under the Abe administration to accelerated implementation under the Takaichi administration, the path of military expansion catering to arms capital is akin to poison, fraught with alarming risks.
Marin Toyosu, a member of Japan's Generation Z, said the Takaichi administration's aggressive push for war preparedness essentially hides a self-serving agenda under the slogan of a "virtuous cycle between security and the economy." It abandons vulnerable groups to benefit a small circle of arms capitalists and represents an administration bent on stoking conflict. 
"This military expansion agenda harms Japanese citizens and endangers people across the world," she noted.
Tatara Satoshi, an anti-war activist, pointed out that the Takaichi administration hypes up the "China threat" to justify military buildup while pushing the flawed argument that the defense industry can boost the economy. 
This does not reflect the genuine aspirations of Japanese society or ordinary citizens. "Japanese people do not want war with China. They should unite to firmly oppose efforts to advance military expansion by stoking tensions and overstating supposed economic benefits," he said.
Global Times
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B |     ■ 曹金旭          　　发展绿色金融，是推动绿水青山向金山银山转化的必然要求。养老金融是践行金融工作政治性、人民性的具体举措。中央金融工作会议提出，要做好科技金融、绿色金融、普惠金融、养老金融、数字金融“五篇大文章”，建行分行紧跟党中央决策部署，深入落实市委、市政府高质量发展要求，按照金融高质量发展的长期路线图，围绕“五篇大文章”结合发展实际明晰自身定位，着力在绿色金融、养老金融上提升服务实体经济能力，以高质量金融服务打牢高质量发展的底子。         　　绿色+能源 注入发展新动能          　　“一、二、三！启动！”，随着我市某风电项目负责人按下风电设备启动按钮，矗立在现场的风机叶片开始缓缓转动，这标志着该项目已成功进入运营阶段。这是建设银行信贷支持的能源类项目中的一个，项目运营后不仅保障了地区用电需求，还可减少二氧化碳排放量，让看得见的青山绿水，转变为实实在在的“金山银山”。         　　我市风、光资源丰富，等效利用小时数均在1500小时以上。2023年在新时代推动东北全面振兴座谈会上，习近平总书记强调，要加快发展风电、光电、核电等清洁能源，建设风光火核储一体化能源基地。

C | 2024年，市政府工作报告中也明确提出，要加快清洁能源产业集群建设，将能源优势转化为产业优势。         　　建行分行围绕国家“双碳”战略，紧盯绿色低碳发展的关键领域，大力支持节能环保、清洁能源等重点产业发展。主动走访核电、风力、光伏发电等新能源项目，积极挖掘重点产业集群项目需求，跟进央地合作项目进展，组建绿色信贷项目团队，匹配优秀客户经理开展项目对接，根据项目本身要素及所处阶段，制定差异化融资服务方案，最大限度满足客户融资需求。截至5月末，建行分行绿色信贷总规模超过58亿元，绿色贷款占比超40%，年均增速近20%。已成功对接并服务的绿色信贷客户近10户，涉及信贷项目10余个，单户绿色信贷项目已投放超40亿元。         　　除了在项目建设中给予的信贷支持外，建行分行还不断创新金融产品，结合场景需求以及绿色产业特点，利用人民银行碳减排工具，将近7亿元信贷资金纳入碳减排贷款，全力降低企业融资成本，全力打造“绿色金融”样板间，以金融活水促进实体经济迎风向阳生长，成为促进地区绿色转型发展的排头兵。         　　绿色+制造 助推产业提质效          　　“今年的产量成功突破10万吨，已达到12万吨，较上年增产近30%，真的太感谢建行的支持了。”某大型民营企业车间张主任看着忙碌的生产车间感叹道。         　　作为东北最大铜冶炼基地，该民营企业拥有丰富的矿产资源和完备的工艺设备，技术力量也处于领先地位，是我市有色金属产业的中坚力量，对我市产业机构调整、经济平稳健康发展起到积极的推进作用，但在原材料采购方面的资金缺口，始终制约着企业产量规模的提升。         　　建行分行在绿色+制造上持续发力，在促进民营经济上下功夫，不断建立服务民营经济的体制机制，助力民营企业绿色转型发展，以金融服务不断培育地区新质生产力形成。

D | 2023年以来，建行分行积极与企业对接，了解到客户有融资需求后，响应匹配专属客户经理与企业开展对接，通过充分沟通深入走访，在仔细分析客户资金用途后，精准匹配采用分行优惠信贷政策，确认满足绿色信贷认定标准后，快速提交相关信贷材料，在极短时间内，成功为企业先后投放多笔流动资金贷款，贷款总额超1.5亿元。

E | 正是由于这些资金的支持保障，有效满足了企业购买原材料的需要，实现企业产量和规模的明显提升。         　　根据市委、市政府的工作部署，建行分行对标“六个城市”发展定位，充分发挥国有大行“头雁”作用，持续优化制造业金融供给，不仅加大对传统产业在设备更新、技术改造、绿色转型发展等方面的资金支持，还强化对雏鹰、瞪羚等科技型企业的支持力度，特别是科创企业、创新转型企业的综合服务质效。截至5月末，建行分行已支持20余户科创企业发展，贷款余额近8000万元，授信金额近9000万元，支持传统制造业加速转型升级。

F |          　　养老+医疗 构建健康新工程          　　随着人口老龄化的加剧，医疗和健康服务的需求越来越大，而金融机构对于医疗产业的支持也愈发重要。医疗产业作为养老金融的重要组成部分，关乎着老年客户的生活质量，牵动着成千上万个家庭。

G | 医疗机构在日常运营中，购买医疗设备、药品等需求较大，但资金流动性也给医院经营带来了一定压力。建行分行聚焦医疗产业，以金融手段构建滨城健康新工程，以金融活水为城区和县域重点医院提供全方位的金融服务支持。         　　随着100万供应链贷款的投放，某医疗机构负责人表示，“供应链产品的创新实践，不仅缓解了我们的资金难题，还提高了医院的运营效率。有了建行持续不断的金融助力，做好滨城老百姓的医疗服务我们更有底气。”          　　为缓解医疗机构短期的资金压力，帮助医疗机构解决资金流动性问题，建行分行根据融资需求的不同，先后推出流贷、供应链金融等产品，全力支持医疗机构的快速发展。在与医疗机构的对接中，建行分行结合医疗机构应付账款结算需求，利用供应链平台为医疗机构上游企业提供融资服务。2023年以来，建行分行已实现供应链贷款投放近1.5亿元，触达链条客户20余户，有效解决链条企业和医疗机构的双向资金压力，扎扎实实以金融力量支持养老服务项目建设。         　　养老+惠老 打造银发服务港湾          　　近年来，以“养老”为名的诈骗行为层出不穷，提供“养老服务”、投资“养老项目”、销售“养老产品”等诈骗手段更是花样百出。

H | 建行分行依托辖内“劳动者港湾”，为广大老年客户宣传“防范电信网络诈骗”“存款保险制度”等相关金融知识，提升老年群体的风险意识和反诈能力。

I | 通过深入社区、企业、学校等方式，不断丰富适老、教育、普法、公益等方面服务内涵，提升消费者风险防范意识和金融素养。

J | 依托“裕农通”延伸服务半径，为农村的老人缴纳社保、医保、新农合等，切实展现国有大行责任担当。         　　网点是服务老年客户最重要的渠道。建行分行积极践行国家金融为民的服务理念，多方位满足老年客户的养老金融服务需求。以破解养老痛点难点问题为导向，打造三大特色：产品权益特色。增配专属产品，满足低风险投资客户，尤其是老年客户的需求。提供养老规划、财富管理等全方位服务，服务好老年客户不同阶段的金融需求。

K | 适老服务特色。

L | 对网点服务设施进行改造升级，开通“绿色通道”，设立爱心专窗，设置爱心座椅等，配置老花镜、放大镜等助老服务设施，对无法到网点的老年客户提供上门服务，打造有温度的金融服务。

M | 线上服务特色。持续优化手机银行功能，开发“大字版”模式。以手机银行、建行生活“双子星”为基础，拓展服务老年客群的渠道，帮助老年人跨越数字鸿沟。通过看得见、摸得着的金融服务，坚持以义取利，打造银发客群的服务港湾。

N |

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