Japan Self-Defense Forces in the context of "Indian Armed Forces"

The prime minister of Japan (内閣総理大臣, Naikaku Sōri Daijin; Japanese pronunciation: [naꜜi.ka.kɯ | soː.ɾʲi daꜜi.dʑiɴ]) is the head of government of Japan. The prime minister chairs the Cabinet of Japan and has the ability to select and dismiss its ministers of state. The prime minister also serves as the commander-in-chief of the Japan Self Defence Forces. The incumbent prime minister, Sanae Takaichi, took office on 21 October 2025; she is the first woman to serve as either president of the Liberal Democratic Party or prime minister.

The National Diet (parliament) nominates the prime minister from among its members (typically from among the members of the House of Representatives). They are then formally appointed by the emperor. The prime minister must retain the confidence of the House of Representatives to remain in office. The prime minister lives and works at the Naikaku Sōri Daijin Kantei (Prime Minister's Official Residence) in Nagatachō, Chiyoda, Tokyo, close to the National Diet Building.

Japan is a great power and a member of numerous international organizations, including the United Nations (since 1956), the OECD, and the Group of Seven. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, the country maintains Self-Defense Forces that rank as one of the world's strongest militaries. After World War II, Japan experienced record growth in an economic miracle, becoming the second-largest economy in the world by 1990. As of 2021, the country's economy is the third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by PPP.

Japan has close economic and military relations with the United States, with which it maintains a security alliance. The United States is a major market for Japanese exports and a major source of Japanese imports, and is committed to defending the country, with military bases in Japan.

The Imperial Japanese Armed Forces (IJAF, full Japanese: 帝国陸海軍, romanized: Teikoku riku-kaigun or Nippon-gun (日本軍) for short, meaning "Japanese Forces") were the unified forces of the Empire of Japan. Formed during the Meiji Restoration in 1868, they were disbanded in 1945, shortly after Japan's defeat to the Allies of World War II; the revised Constitution of Japan, drafted during the Allied occupation of Japan, replaced the IJAF with the present-day Japan Self-Defense Forces.

The Imperial Japanese Army and the Imperial Japanese Navy functioned as the IJAF's primary service branches, with the country's aerial power being split between the Army Air Service under the former and the Navy Air Service under the latter.

Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan (日本国憲法第9条, Nihon koku kenpō dai kyū-jō) is a clause in the Constitution of Japan outlawing war as a means to settle international disputes involving the state. The Constitution was drafted following the surrender of Japan in World War II. It came into effect on 3 May 1947 during the occupation of Japan by the Allies, which lasted until 28 April 1952. In its text, the state formally renounces the sovereign right of belligerency and aims at an international peace based on justice and order. The article also states that, to accomplish these aims, armed forces with war potential will not be maintained. The Constitution was imposed by U.S. military occupation (Supreme Commander for the Allied Powers) to prevent rearmament of Japan in the post–World War II period. This condition was a similar prohibition placed on post-war Germany, to be overseen by the United Kingdom, after World War I. However, Germany remilitarized anyway in the decades following despite this prohibition under the Weimar Republic and later Adolf Hitler's regime. This was a leading call for the Allied mandate, and the continuing US defense agreements that would render aid in maintaining Japanese sovereignty in the event of a foreign attack.

There are the post-occupation U.S. military stationed in Japan under the U.S.–Japan Mutual Cooperation and Security Treaty and Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) which was founded in 1954 as de facto postwar Japanese military. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe approved a reinterpretation which gave more powers to the JSDF in 2014, which was passed by the Legislation for Peace and Security in 2015.

The Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Japanese: 海上自衛隊, Hepburn: Kaijō Jieitai), abbreviated JMSDF (海自, Kaiji), also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) after World War II. The JMSDF has a fleet of 164 ships, 346 aircraft and 50,800 personnel.

The United States Forces Japan (USFJ) (Japanese: 在日米軍, Hepburn: Zainichi Beigun) is a subordinate unified command of the United States Indo-Pacific Command. It was activated at Fuchū Air Station in Tokyo, Japan, on 1 July 1957 to replace the Far East Command. USFJ is headquartered at Yokota Air Base in Tokyo and is commanded by the Commander, U.S. Forces Japan who is also commander of the Fifth Air Force. Since then, it is the first and only sustained presence of a foreign military on Japanese soil in its history.

USFJ oversees U.S. military personnel, assets, and installations in Japan, including approximately 55,000 active-duty servicemembers and 15 major bases. USFJ supports U.S. responsibilities under the Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan, and its activities are governed by the Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) between the United States and Japan. The command plays a major role in security-related coordination and dialogue with the Government of Japan and the Japan Self-Defense Forces.

Postwar Japan is the period in Japanese history beginning with the surrender of Japan to the Allies of World War II on 2 September 1945, and lasting at least until the end of the Shōwa era in 1989.

Despite the massive devastation it suffered in the Second World War, Japan established itself as a global economic power at peace with the world after the Allied-occupation ended on 28 April 1952 by the Treaty of San Francisco. In terms of political power it was more reluctant, especially in the nonuse of military force. The post-war constitution of 1947 included Article 9, which restricted Japan from having a military force and engaging in war. However, it has operated military forces in the stationing of the United States Forces Japan based on the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty after the Allied occupation and the form of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces since 1954.

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Japanese: 陸上自衛隊, Hepburn: Rikujō Jieitai), JGSDF (陸自, Rikuji), also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches.

New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct the Self-Defense Forces away from their Cold War focus on the Soviet Union to a new focus on China, especially in respect of the dispute over the Senkaku Islands.