Abstract

A lot has been written about the qualitative and quantitative transformation of Japanese security and defence policies over the last 10 years. While there is a lot of disagreement amongst scholars and analysts on the level of the quantitative and qualitative transformation of Tokyo’s security and defence policies, there is none the less wide agreement that Japan’s former Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi (2001–06) initiated and adopted many of the changes on Japan’s security and defence policy agenda which are—more often than not—discussed controversially until today.