Weapons technology expansion threatens research guidelines
A landmark decision in April by the Japanese government to revise the country’s decades-old arms export ban as well as permit exports of lethal weapons has led to mixed responses in the higher education academic sector that has long resisted any military-linked research.
While Japanese universities are not directly involved in developing weapons, the April decision, say academics, pit the protection of research freedom against prioritising national security.
Prime Minister Sanae Takeuchi’s cabinet is promoting weapons exports as critical to spur domestic economic growth. Discussions have begun between the Japanese government and its Philippine counterpart for the purchase of Japanese-used Maritime Self Defense Force destroyers.
“Universities are engaged in the development of advanced technologies. Expanding weapons technology threatens traditional research guidelines that have focused on civilian use,” said Professor Masanori Okada, an expert on public law at Waseda University.
Okada is currently researching the legal implications of government policies weakening research safeguards.
But proponents argue that scrapping restrictions on overseas sales of missiles, warships and other weapons even to countries engaged in combat is a natural consequence of the recent geopolitical tension challenging the world order.
Kuni Miyake, a respected foreign policy expert, commenting in the media in April, explained that Indo-Pacific countries are seeking to import Japan’s defence equipment to strengthen their military capabilities, contributing to deterrence in the region.
Currently China-Japan diplomatic relations are at a new low. Japan has also identified its neighbouring power as a national threat and a rising military risk facing the Asia Pacific region.
“Japan is a free democracy and has proved itself a peace-loving nation governed by rules,” wrote Miyake, a former diplomat and head of the Foreign Policy Institute, a leading think tank. He noted that the government decision to export weapons in no way alters Japan’s ideals as a peace-loving nation.
Miyake was referring to Japan’s postwar democratic Constitution that purses non-military international assistance and recognises individual freedom. He adds in the article that Japanese exports of weapons will only go to the 17 nations that have signed UN Charter provisions that permit the weapons to be transferred to a third nation only after approval from Japan.
Meanwhile, the Japanese Coalition Against Military Research in Academia (JCAMR), a group of more than 300 scientists and 36 peace groups, issued a new statement in May accusing the government of interfering in “academic independence under the pretext of economic security.”
The opposition group insisted the new policy has strengthened government involvement in research and development, businesses and infrastructure. It criticised the moves, warning that the trend will erode institutional protections such as parliamentary oversight, independent reviews and the prohibition of disadvantaged treatment that plays a critical role in maintaining independent research.
The organisation has long cited past remorse expressed by academics mobilised to support Japan’s disastrous entry into World War ll. The country was defeated in 1945 after suffering more than three million civilian deaths.
Okada, a member of the group, contends that universities must brace for new challenges either through revised regulations or the lure of funding couched under the umbrella of boosting national security.
A case in point is the Defense Agency’s ongoing funding programme under the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency (ATLA) that provides a lucrative JPY2 billion (US$ 12 504 000) over a period of 5 years to universities and research institutions. The funds, according to the Defense Ministry website, support innovative technologies that could be used in defence building.
ATLA funding programmes support fundamental research and garnered a record high of 123 applications last year from universities. Its Bridging of Research programme targets individual start-ups or collaborations by start-up companies, domestic research institutions, academia and other relevant actors. Underwater optical wireless communications technology, cybersecurity and space exploration are some themes under the programme.
“The offer of much-wanted funding for researchers is steadily softening staunch anti-military stances among researchers,” said Okada.
Indeed, the Japan Science Council, the country’s highest representative body, stated last year that it is “unrealistic” to make a sharp distinction between technologies that can or cannot be used for military purposes.
Urgent need for protective guidelines
Academics say government policy deviation is causing a suppressed university environment. They cite the urgent need for a public debate between universities to develop common grounding and foster protective guidelines in higher education.
“The lack of clarity in universities is extremely troubling today,” Professor Mitsunori Tarao, environmental scientist at the agricultural science department at the Institute of Science, Japan’s leading technology university, told UWN. The university is a recipient of ATLA funds.
Tarao said researchers privately express worry as they weigh the impact on their research against the risk of breaching Japan’s tightening security conditions. Media reports have also cited that some university laboratories are reviewing the inclusion of international, especially Chinese, doctoral students to avoid potential suspicion.
Japan’s weapons development is largely under the control of large corporations and production capacity is limited to supplying the country’s Self-Defense Forces.
On 12 May Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Japan’s largest defence contractor, reported it was projecting a net profit – up 14% – for the fiscal year ending March 2027. The media also reported the company will also expand the hiring of weapons research related experts.
Growing divide to ‘stifle collaboration’
Tarao expects a growing divide among academics that will stifle the potential collaboration and transparency considered priorities for successful research outcomes.
“A gap is emerging between universities open to participating in government-defined military research technology and counterparts opting to take a more cautious stance,” he explained in a phone interview.
The conservative-leaning Forum for Strategic Studies describes universities accepting Chinese students and conducting dual-purpose research with Chinese universities as “huge loopholes of information leakage”. In a 2025 statement it also accuses universities of not heeding warnings about the transfer of sensitive technology from Japan.
The forum, which is composed of security and technology experts, points to the approach of overseas higher education institutions that exclude foreign students in some graduate studies to prevent the theft of intellectual property.
Japan’s defence budget is expected to reach 2% of the country’s GDP (gross domestic product), a break from the long-held tradition of holding below 1%.