Japan’s Self-Defense Forces: Towards a Normal Military

The Self-Defense Forces (SDF) are one of the variables of the distinctly pacifist security policy Japan has followed ever since the end of the war. Japan’s ongoing ‘normalisation’ involves an enhancement of the role and functions of these forces. Although the SDF’s role has considerably increased in the past decade, it cannot be characterised as Japan’s remilitarisation because of strong domestic and external checks. The shift in the SDF’s role has to be seen in the larger context of fundamental changes in regional security in East Asia and Tokyo’s intent to broaden its regional and global security profile.