executive summary: This article analyzes Japanese-German defense industrial relations in the 2010s and 2020s as a case study to examine why cooperation on arms development and procurement has been difficult to realize despite both governments' interest in closer cooperation. main argument Given a deteriorating security environment, and as countries that share common values, Japan and Germany have expressed interest in strengthening their strategic partnership and expanding bilateral defense ties. However, despite unambiguous political interest in arms collaboration, both countries' defense industries have realized only a few cases of cooperation in practice. Empirical evidence shows that bilateral arms cooperation has faced numerous obstacles, mainly arising from Japan's traditionally closed defense sector, its unique economic and business structures and culture, diverging industrial norms and standards, and alliance considerations. At the same time, opportunities for defense industrial cooperation appear to be growing. Japan's defense sector is gradually opening up as the Japanese government has taken policy measures to promote the internationalization of the defense industry and to cultivate defense industrial relations. Dialogue formats among defense companies are increasing, and the defense sector has made some progress toward internationalization. policy implications • Because many of the obstacles hampering German-Japan bilateral defense industrial relations involve Japan's economic culture and its companies' market orientation, they could also be relevant for other countries that seek to develop closer defense industrial relations with Japan. Nevertheless, policy and structural reform measures are improving the business environment and internationalization of Japan's defense sector. • For Germany and Japan, political will and government facilitation will remain key to securing an arms cooperation project of major dimensions despite expanding contacts between the defense industries. • For Japan's defense sector, engaging in international cooperation can help address technological gaps that have formed after decades of self-imposed export restrictions, isolation, and partial decline. • The implications of the second Trump administration's ambiguous policies toward U.S. allies could incentivize Japan and Germany to increase their efforts to collaborate on arms procurement and development but could also be detrimental to Japan's diversification strategy. One year into the Trump administration, there are indicators for both developments.
Tobias Kollakowski (Wed,) studied this question.