Japan to expand military aid as OSA budget more than doubles

Japan’s military aid program is likely to expand from eight to at least 12 recipient countries next fiscal year after Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s Cabinet on Friday approved a record budget for the framework formally known as official security assistance (OSA).

The Cabinet agreed on a 125% — or ¥10 billion — year-on-year increase in OSA funding, raising the budget to ¥18.1 billion ($116 million) for fiscal 2026, as Tokyo seeks to strengthen the security capabilities of “like-minded” partners amid growing regional security concerns.

If approved by parliament before the start of the next fiscal year in April, this would mark the largest-ever increase for the 2023-launched program. The hike is designed to not only accommodate more candidate countries, particularly from Southeast Asia and the Pacific, but also to finance “increasingly larger and more comprehensive projects,” according to a government source.