Prime Minister Fumio Kishida’s plans to boost defense spending over the next five years have met with resistance not over ideological differences or the constitutionality of such a move but over how to pay for a bigger defense budget.

“The fact that the ruling coalition and opposing parties mostly agree on the need to increase defense spending is a big departure from the political debate we have seen in post-World War II Japan,” Research Director Sota Kato told Nikkei Asia.

The reason the opposition has embraced the need for stronger defense is a reflection of opinion polls, Kato said. “By focusing on the funding issue, there really hasn’t been a deep debate on defense.”

“Japan's opposition parties struggle to dispute defense buildup,” Nikkei Asia
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/Defense/Japan-s-opposition-parties-struggle-to-dispute-defense-buildup

Profile of Research Director Sota Kato
https://www.tkfd.or.jp/en/experts/detail.php?id=29