For Japan’s defense, it matters who’s prime minister

After a long three years in office by modern standards, Fumio Kishida won’t be Japan’s prime minister after September. Japanese prime ministers, with the exception of the late Shinzo Abe, seem to come and go so often that one might think it isn’t important who is actually national leader.

But it does matter, especially when it comes to Japan’s defense, which has made unusual progress in recent years. One worries that with a different prime minister, Japan’s efforts to bolster defense will drift, as has historically been the case.

There have been a few interludes of relatively rapid and measurable progress, but by and large, things drift no faster or slower than Japan feels like moving.

And nothing that might provoke too much Asahi Shinbun criticism, or that might upset the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP)’s coalition partner, Komeito, or even the “leftist” factions in the LDP itself.

So Japan ends up doing what is easy – rather than what it needs to do – regardless of regional circumstances and rising threats just beyond Japan’s borders.

For the last decade or more, these threats have been unmistakable as the People’s Republic of China gears up to teach Japan a lesson—and finally has the means to do so. Not to mention its friends in Pyongyang and Moscow, who will likely help out.

Japan’s defense progress over the last few years has been exceptional, even if it could have been faster. Kishida deserves credit—even if he just had the good sense not to unduly interfere with the progress that was being made.

These improvements didn’t happen by coincidence. Two of Kishida’s defense ministers, Minoru Kihara and Nobuo Kishi, were among the best of the more than 40 or so defense ministers (or Defense Agency heads) who