Japan may need to get even more creative with its accounting if it’s going to satisfy U.S. demands for it to beef up its defense spending. Although the Defense Ministry has requested nearly ¥9 trillion ($57.7 billion) for the next fiscal year — a figure likely to top ¥10 trillion once additions are made by the year-end following revisions to its three key security documents — those figures will remain far off from the 3.5% of gross domestic product target the U.S. has urged for its allies. More notably, if the GDP ratio is pegged to projected fiscal 2026 figures, it will fall below the vaunted 2% target that Prime Minister Sanae Takahichi said would be reached in March, two years ahead of schedule.
The government said earlier this year it was fast approaching that number.
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