The return of the Japanese samurai is no innocent cartoon entertainment: China Daily editorial

There is something almost unsettling about the cover of Japan's 2026 Defense White Paper. A cheerful cartoon mascot smiles beneath a bright sky, as though the clinical language of deterrence, missiles and military expansion can be softened by cuteness.

Japan's Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe once wrote of the ambiguity that allowed militarism to overtake his country: "That powerful, acute ambiguity which tears the nation and its people apart ... drove Japan to play the aggressor in Asia." That same ambiguity lingers beneath this year's polished report, where "patriotic rhetoric" risks dulling independent judgment and turning people into instruments of an expanding war machine.

For the first time, the 2026 white paper includes a dedicated chapter on "new forms of warfare", drawing explicit lessons from Ukraine, including drone warfare, artificial intelligence and prolonged attrition. Space, cyber and electromagnetic operations are elevated from supporting functions to core combat domains.

The parallels with pre-World War II Japan are difficult to ignore. Then, as now, "external threats" were invoked to justify military expansion. The ideology of "leaving Asia and joining the West" has been repackaged as alignment with a "democratic security coalition". The notorious wartime vision of a "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere" has given way to the language of a "free and open Indo-Pacific". Even the economic arguments echo history, with military investment promoted as a source of technological innovation and industrial growth.

As some Japanese observers have said, postwar Japan rested on two moral foundations: "democracy" and an unwavering commitment never to wage war again. Now both are under increasing strain. The nation sees political debate narrowing under the ascendant right-wing neo-militarists while the country's pacifist identity is gradually reinterpreted into support for military expansion in the name of deterrence. The postwar settlement, once regarded as Japan's moral compass, appears increasingly contested.

As a spokesman for China's Ministry of National Defense said, the 2026 white paper, filled with false narratives, indicates Tokyo is fabricating regional threats to dismantle the restraints that shaped Japan's postwar military posture. He rightly pointed out that Japan's accusations against China amount to "a thief crying ‘stop thief'" and warned that Japan's neo-militarism poses a challenge to regional stability.

Japan's pursuit of military superiority through ever-expanding deterrence risks triggering a self-reinforcing cycle of regional arms race. Although the country has technological strengths, a decisive "overwhelming" military superiority over China will prove only costly wishful thinking. Japan also remains heavily dependent on imported energy and strategic resources — a vulnerability that contributed to its wartime defeat and remains no less significant today.

Perhaps the most revealing feature of Japan's strategy is the insecurity that underpins it. Since the end of World War II, Tokyo has consistently sought security under the United States-led alliance, often at considerable economic and strategic cost. From the Plaza Accord to more recent financial concessions, Japan has repeatedly subordinated aspects of its autonomy to preserve the alliance.

The palpable unease — and at times barely concealed irritation — with which Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi received the US leader's mentioning of the attack on Pearl Harbor indicates Japan remains profoundly uncertain about the reliability and durability of its most cherished alliance.

Recent protests outside the National Diet are a stark reminder that many Japanese people harbor deep misgivings about the Takaichi government's dangerous course.

Yet the juggernaut of rearmament rolls on. The nearly 600-page 2026 white paper helps pave the way for revising the country's three key security documents by the end of this year and accelerating its military buildup. Some in Tokyo are already openly proposing Japan acquire nuclear weapons and the possibility of raising its military spending above 3 percent of GDP, while legislation for dedicated military taxes advances.

Oe warned that ambiguity could tear the nation apart. As Japan steadily redefines the meaning of "security" and "peace", that warning carries renewed resonance.