Military profile
Japan Military Strength
Japan ranks #8 of 145 in the Global Firepower military strength ranking, with 240,000 active personnel. It spent $62.2 billion on its military in 2025 (1.4% of GDP).
Japan armed forces in numbers
Personnel
- Active military personnel
- 240,000#19 of 145
- Reserve military personnel
- 55,000#45 of 145
- Paramilitary forces
- 14,000#58 of 145
- Army personnel
- 150,000#25 of 145
- Air force personnel
- 50,000#10 of 145
- Navy personnel
- 51,000#12 of 145
Air power
- Total military aircraft
- 1,451#6 of 145
- Fighter aircraft
- 217#13 of 145
- Attack aircraft
- 27#24 of 145
- Military helicopters
- 566#6 of 145
- Attack helicopters
- 119#4 of 145
Land forces
- Tanks
- 1,004#23 of 145
- Self-propelled artillery
- 238#24 of 145
- Towed artillery
- 480#23 of 145
- Rocket artillery
- 99#39 of 145
Naval power
- Aircraft carriers
- 0#8 of 113
- Destroyers
- 36#3 of 113
- Frigates
- 4#36 of 113
- Corvettes
- 6#16 of 113
- Submarines
- 21#6 of 113
- Patrol vessels
- 6#86 of 113
- Mine warfare vessels
- 22#4 of 113
Finance
- Military spending
- $62.2 billion#10 of 156
- Military spending as % of GDP
- 1.4%#92 of 156
- Purchasing power parity (GDP, PPP)
- $5.23 trillion#4 of 145
Equipment and personnel: Global Firepower 2023 military strength ranking (2023). Spending: World Bank / SIPRI military expenditure data (CC BY 4.0).
Japan military spending 2010–2025
Military spending of Japan grew by 14% between 2010 and 2025, from $54.7 billion to $62.2 billion (current US dollars), and stood at 1.4% of GDP in 2025.
Armed forces of Japan
Branches and forces
Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF): Ground Self-Defense Force (Rikujou Jieitai, GSDF; includes aviation), Maritime Self-Defense Force (Kaijou Jieitai, MSDF; includes naval aviation), Air Self-Defense Force (Koukuu Jieitai, ASDF) (2025)
Personnel
approximately 230-240,000 active Self Defense Forces (2025)
Service age and conscription
18-32 years of age for voluntary military service for men and women; no conscription (2025)
Equipment and suppliers
the JSDF is equipped largely with domestically produced weapons platforms; most of its imported arms are from the US; Japan's defense industry is capable of producing a wide range of air, ground, and naval weapons systems; some domestically produced weapons are US-origin and manufactured under license (2025)
Deployments abroad
maintains a presence of about 400 military personnel at a permanent base in Djibouti (2025)
Good to know
the Japan Self-Defense Force (JSDF) has a range of missions, including territorial defense, monitoring the country’s air and maritime spaces, countering piracy and terrorism, and conducting humanitarian operations; the JSDF exercises regularly with the US military and increasingly with other regional countries, including Australia and the Philippines Japan’s alliance with the US is one of the cornerstones of the country’s security, as well as a large component of the US security posture in Asia; the US-Japan mutual defense treaty grants the US the right to base US military forces in Japan, including aircraft and ships, in return for US security guarantees; the Japanese Government provides approximately $3 billion on average per year to offset the cost of stationing US forces in Japan; in addition, it pays compensation to localities hosting US troops, rent for bases, and costs for new facilities to support the US presence; Japan also has Major Non-NATO Ally (MNNA) status with the US, a designation under US law that provides foreign partners with certain benefits in the areas of defense trade and security cooperation Japan was disarmed after its defeat in World War II; shortly after the Korean War began in 1950, US occupation forces in Japan created a 75,000-member lightly armed force called the National Police Reserve; the JSDF was founded in 1954; Article 9 of Japan’s 1947 constitution renounced the use of force as a means of settling international disputes; however, Japan has interpreted Article 9 to mean that it can maintain a military for national defense purposes and, since 1991, has allowed the JSDF to participate in noncombat roles overseas in a number of UN peacekeeping missions and in the US-led coalition in Iraq; in 2014-2015, the Japanese Government reinterpreted the constitution as allowing for "collective self-defense," described as the use of force on others’ behalf if Japan’s security was threatened; in 2022, the government released security policy documents that declared Japan’s intention to develop "counterstrike” capabilities, including armed drones and cruise missiles, and outlined plans to increase Japan’s security-related expenditures to 2% of GDP (2025)
Military expenditure (% of GDP)
2024: 1.4% · 2023: 1.2% · 2022: 1.1% · 2021: 1% · 2020: 1%
Forces and service: CIA World Factbook (public domain).