Insights | Russian scholar: Japan's rising militarism has deep roots for long time

Commenting on Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's erroneous remarks on Taiwan, Russian scholar Vladimir Nelidov said the trend towards the militarization of Japan has been going on for a long time.

He said that the United States has long been the driving force behind Japan’s militarism revival, seeking to build Japan into a strategic tool against China.

He pointed out that the Japanese economy is vulnerable as China is one of the main trading partners of Japan.

Takaichi's remarks, to a certain extent, symbolic gestures, Nelidov said. Although provocative, they are unlikely to trigger concrete action, given Japan’s economic vulnerability and its dependence on China.

Nelidov works as a senior lecturer of the Department of Asian and African Studies of MGIMO University, and regularly publishes commentaries in the media regarding the current issues of Japanese politics and Russian-Japanese relations.