Summary  4

1 Japan's constitution and the status of Japan's Defence Forces  8

1.1 Constitutional change in Japan  8

1.2 Article 9 of Japan's constitution and the Japanese Defence Forces  9

1.3 Plans to revise the constitution under new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi  12

2 Updates to Japan's security policies and arms exports controls, and increased defence spending  15

2.1 Updates to security policies  15

2.2 Changes to arms exports controls policy  16

2.3 Japan's increased defence spending and defence capabilities  18

3 Strategic context: Why is Japan changing its military and security posture?  22

3.1 Public attitudes  22

3.2 Regional security concerns  23

4 Japan's strengthened alliances  29

4.1 United States  29

4.2 South Korea  30

4.3 Australia  31

4.4 The Philippines  32

4.5 UK  33