Rintaro Inoue Commented in CNBC Article on Japan’s Evolving Arms Export Policy

2025.06.16

Rintaro Inoue, Research Associate at the Institute of Geoeconomics (IOG), provided expert commentary in a recent CNBC article titled “Why a pacifist Japan seems to be doubling down on arms exports,” published on June 16, 2025.

The biggest reason behind this shift is to deepen ties and increase interoperability of Japanese forces with allies and partners, said Rintaro Inoue, research associate at the Institute of Geoeconomics, a Tokyo-based think tank.
By exporting its arms abroad, a country is able to improve interoperability with the purchasing parties by standardizing maintenance processes for hardware and creating joint training opportunities.
“This rationale has been the main pillar after Prime Minister [Shinzo] Abe created the concept of ‘proactive contribution to peace’ in 2013 which aims to deepen cooperation with other Western countries in this area, and especially in security fields,” he said.

You can read the full article here:
CNBC: Why a pacifist Japan seems to be doubling down on arms exports