Japanese arms-export ban

The Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs justified its case by providing ODA assistance to Indonesia for securing the Strait of Malacca in June 2003 and February 2004.

[14] As these boats were made with bulletproof material, it falls under military vessels under the Export Trade Control Ordinance.

[16] Other ODA grants were also done with the construction of patrol boats made by Sumidagawa Shipyard for Djibouti, Malaysia and Sri Lanka.

[20] During a National Security Council meeting, they ruled that JGSDF forces should provide ammunition to their South Korean counterparts.

[22] On April 1, 2014, the total ban on arms exports was ended by the government of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe[23][24] under the Three Principles on Arms Exports to the Three Principles on Defense Equipment Transfers (Japanese: 防衛装備移転三原則, romanized: Bōei-sōbi-iten-sangensoku)[25] according to the guidelines of the National Security Strategy adopted on December 17, 2013.

[26] Following this abatement, in 2015 Japan made moves to sell Kawasaki P-1 maritime patrol aircraft to the United Kingdom and New Zealand,[27][28] but these attempts were not successful.

[29] On 6 November 2022, it was reported that Tokyo had considered the exports of used JSDF main battle tanks (MBTs) and missile systems to friendly countries,[30] and on 4 January 2023, it was reported that the government considered allowing military hardware that has dual use, such as radars or dual-use ports, to friendly countries, and included the export for UN peacekeeping or humanitarian operations as a possibility.

[31] On December 7, 2023, it was reported that the LDP agreed to expand the rules on providing Ukraine with military equipment based on the guidelines.

[35] On 15 October 2022, the Second Kishida Cabinet (Reshuffled) announced that they would sell the Unicorn stealth antenna technology to the Indian military.

[36] On August 21, 2024, a plan was agreed to transfer the Unicorn antenna during a 2+2 meeting in New Delhi with Indian and Japanese defense/foreign ministers.

[56] According to Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, the Philippines is the first ASEAN nation to get military equipment from Japan.

[32] Two retired MH-53E helicopters of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force were sold to the United States Navy in 2015 for their components.

[72] In 2020, Japan successfully secured a trade agreement with Vietnam, allowing for the export of Japanese military equipment.