Japan Holds First Expert Panel Meeting to Revise Three Key Security Documents

by JUNG YEON WOO Posted : April 27, 2026, 21:33Updated : April 27, 2026, 21:33
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi (Yonhap)
Japan on the 27th held the first meeting of an expert panel formed to revise its three major security documents, Kyodo News and other outlets reported.

Yonhap said the 15-member group, titled the “Expert Meeting to Consider Security Through Comprehensive National Power,” met in the evening at the prime minister’s office. Members include Kenichiro Sasae, a former ambassador to the United States; Tetsuro Kuroe, a former vice defense administrative vice minister; Kazuto Suzuki, a professor at the University of Tokyo’s Graduate School of Public Policy; and Noriko Endo, a professor at Waseda University.

The panel follows Takaichi’s statement in October last year that Japan would revise this year the National Security Strategy, the National Defense Strategy and the Defense Buildup Program.

At the meeting, Takaichi said the relatively stable international order since the Cold War “has become a thing of the past,” and called for Japan to “proactively pursue a fundamental strengthening of defense capabilities.”

Citing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and developments in the Middle East, she also said Japan needs to examine new ways of warfare and prepare for a prolonged conflict.



* This article has been translated by AI.