Critical Goods

Why Japan's Shipbuilding Revival Is a Defense Issue | The Numbers and the Policy

In September 2026 Japan's ruling LDP framed shipbuilding as a pillar of economic security and restated the goal of doubling output by 2035. Japan once built half the world's ships; its order share fell to 8 percent. This article reads the primary documents behind the designation of hulls as a critical good, the 311 billion yen in subsidies approved for eight shipbuilding groups, Japan's 99.5 percent reliance on sea transport, the Mogami-class export to Australia, and Japan-US shipbuilding cooperation, and explains why shipbuilding capacity is defense capacity.