Japan eyes exporting weapons overseas.

• Author: Versprille, Allyson
• Position: Global Defense

* As the United States enters a new era of defense cooperation with Japan, it will have to cope with pushback from the Japanese public, businesses and lawmakers.

In 1967 Japan banned the sale of weapons and defense equipment to other nations under its policy referred to as the "three principles on arms exports." These principles shaped the country's defense posture for decades until Prime Minister Shinzo Abe relaxed them in 2014, allowing for defense exports that increase national security and international cooperation. The new policy also permitted the joint development and production of defense equipment with allies.

While this revision is a momentous shift from Japan's post-World War II pacifism, there are still hurdles that the Abe administration needs to overcome. In May, his cabinet approved bills to amend the country's 70-year old constitution. The revisions would allow Japan's self-defense forces to aid the United States if it came under attack, among other changes. Abe has to convince a divided Japanese public and the Diet--the country's parliament, which is currently debating the revisions--that the changes are the right course of action for the nation. For the amended rules to pass, the Diet must agree in a two-thirds vote.

The reputation risk that many large Japanese businesses face is another hurdle that the Japan-U.S. military alliance will encounter, said a panel of experts during a forum at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, a Washington, D.C. think tank.

Most Japanese companies that participate in the production of defense equipment belong to large corporations where the sale of such technology only comprises about 10 percent, or in some cases as little as 3 percent, of total revenue, said Masao Akiyama, vice president and general manager of aerospace and defense systems at IHI Inc., a wholly-owned New York-based subsidiary of Japanese company, IHI Corporation. IHI Inc. manufactures a range of products including defense equipment.

In comparison, almost 90 percent of Lockheed Martin's total revenue comes from defense-related equipment and weapon systems, according to its...