US-Japan Alliance Digest Vol 5.08

Download US-Japan Alliance Digest Vol 5.08

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• Top Pentagon officials testified before Congressional hearings related to the U.S.-Japan alliance. On Apr. 29, Defense Sec. Pete Hegseth voiced support for Japan’s increasing defense spending but did not list it as a “model ally” at the House Armed Services Committee hearing on the “Department of Defense FY27 Budget Request”. At an Apr. 22 hearing on “U.S. Military Posture and National Security Challenges in the Indo-Pacific Region” at the Senate Armed Services Committee, ADM Samuel Paparo, head of INDOPACOM, identified command and control, U.S. force posture, and Japan’s counterstrike capability as alliance priorities, with agreement from Asst. Sec. of Defense John Noh. Also in April, Japan convened a panel to draft a new NSS, including a possible defense spending target above 2% of GDP.
• Claude Mythos has sparked a push for AI security in Japan and the U.S. amid cyberattack concerns. Finance Min. Satsuki Katayama convened major Japanese banks to form a working group to deal with “risks from cutting-edge AI models”. This follows U.S. Treasury Sec. Scott Bessent meeting with U.S. banks after Anthropic announced that it would not publicly release Claude Mythos due to its ability to identify security vulnerabilities, enabling sophisticated cyberattacks. These actions follow growing private sector cooperation in Japan, with Microsoft announcing a $10 billion investment to develop AI infrastructure and a tie up between Anthropic and NEC to drive corporate AI adoption.
• Japan’s push to ensure its energy security by broadening its suppliers took an important step forward with the arrival of a U.S. supertanker in Tokyo Bay on Apr. 26. The import shift comes after the closure of the Strait of Hormuz cut off Japan from 90% of its crude oil imports, requiring it to look to the U.S. and other countries a time when energy security has become a major focus of Japan’s $550 billion in strategic investments in the U.S. under the deal to reduce tariffs reached in 2025. In support of the deal, the Japan Bank for International Cooperation and three megabanks have announced a plan to provide $1.6 billion in loans for critical minerals, energy, and manufacturing projects.
• Bilateral Defense Industrial Cooperation, Acquisition, and Sustainment (DICAS) discussions have advanced to the implementation stage. The negotiations delivered progress on AIM-120 AMRAAM missile co-production, a ship repair template, the manufacturing and repair of jet engines, and supply chain resilience for unmanned aerial systems within the multilateral framework of the Partnership for Indo‑Pacific Industrial Resilience. The resumption of DICAS comes as Japan lifted its ban on lethal arms exports, creating new opportunities for expanded defense industrial cooperation.
• A delegation of NATO ambassadors from 30 member states visited Japan to further develop ties between the two that have expanded rapidly since Russia’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The delegation met with Defense Min. Shinjiro Koizumi, Foreign Min. Toshimitsu Motegi, and former PM Fumio Kishida. They also visited Japanese defense companies to build on the Japan-NATO dialogue on defense industrial cooperation and capabilities, and Yokosuka Naval Base to learn how Japan maintains stable ties with the U.S. amid a changing political and strategic environment.

The US-Japan Alliance Digest is a bi-weekly summary of bilateral and related developments compiled by Sasakawa USA’s US-Japan NEXT Alliance Initiative. To receive the Alliance Digest via email, contact dhinkley@spfusa.org.

Download US-Japan Alliance Digest Vol 5.08