Japan starts 2024 with flurry of security deals

After a year that saw Japan significantly bolster its defense posture, Tokyo has hit the ground running in 2024, signing defense and security cooperation agreements at a pace without recent parallel as it reacts to an increasingly tense international security environment.

In January alone, Tokyo signed cooperation deals with at least four countries, including Australia, Germany, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, strengthening and expanding its network of like-minded partners both in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

“This flurry of activity across so many areas, with so many different partners, is unprecedented,” said Jeffrey Hornung, senior political scientist and a Japan expert at Rand Corp.