February 18, 2023

Japanese Communist Party representative Shiokawa Tetsuya on February 17 at a House of Representatives Budget Committee meeting grilled the government about its plan to use a record 1.5 trillion yen to purchase U.S.-made weapons under the U.S. government’s Foreign Military Sales (FMS) program.

Shiokawa referred to a report written by a former official of an arms agency, the Acquisition, Technology and Logistics Agency. The report stated that items under the FMS program include the payment of salaries for workers at FMS-related organizations and expenses for the promotion of U.S. arms exports.

Shiokawa asked Defense Minister Hamada Yasukazu, “Does Japan have to pay for such expenses with Japanese taxpayers’ money?” Hamada in response said, “I think the FMS has some problems to address. We are making rationalization efforts.”

Shiokawa noted that the government in FY2023 plans to use 211.3 billion yen to buy Tomahawk missiles under the FMS program. He pointed out that the U.S. Department of Defense indicates that one Tomahawk cruise missile costs 200 million yen, the Japanese government reportedly will spend 300-500 million yen each for the cruise missiles. He urged DM Hamada to provide data regarding the number of missiles to be purchased and the unit price.

As DM Hamada refused to provide the data, Shiokawa said, “The government, without explaining the details of its purchase plan, has concluded a contract with the U.S. to purchase Tomahawk missiles in bulk. In this situation, we can’t examine the details of the contract and the 2023 budget draft.”