Illustration: Xia Qing/GT

It was reported that Japan's Ministry of Defense is planning to request a defense budget of approximately 8.9 trillion yen ($56 billion) for fiscal 2027, setting a new record high. As specific cost figures for numerous projects remain unspecified, the final budget could potentially reach 10 trillion yen. News of this plan has sparked immediate alarm within Japan itself. From mainstream media outlets to anonymous senior officials, many have voiced concern, fearing it could trigger an arms race in East Asia. Those closest to the danger are often the first to sense it, and this deep-seated unease offers a more authentic reflection of the situation's gravity.

Japanese media and officials are growing alarmed because they know better than anyone that this "military expansion train" is accelerating out of control. In just a few short years, Japan's defense budget has surged from approximately 5.4 trillion yen to nearly 10 trillion yen - an increase of over 80 percent - pushing defense spending beyond 2 percent of GDP. Japan is dismantling the guardrails of its postwar "exclusively defense-oriented policy" step by step, rapidly sliding toward a dangerous cycle of unbridled militarism.

Their worries go even deeper. Over 80 years ago, Japan's militarism used "crisis response" as an excuse to steadily break through budget limits and expand its navy, army and air force, ultimately dragging the country into war. The ruins of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Great Tokyo Air Raid, and the millions of casualties are stark evidence of that madness. The fears of some Japanese are the most instinctive and honest reactions to this destructive old path.

Japan is grappling with a persistent, massive fiscal deficit; its government debt-to-GDP ratio stands at nearly 230 percent, and approximately 60 percent of new defense spending is funded through debt issuance. To cover the defense budget, the government plans to raise corporate and personal income taxes - a move opposed by the majority of the public. Some government officials are evidently apprehensive that rising interest rates on sovereign debt could trigger a fiscal crisis, leading to national bankruptcy and a fierce public backlash.

Today is August 9. 81 years ago on this day, an atomic bomb fell on Nagasaki. The root cause of this tragedy lay precisely in the acts of aggression and atrocities launched abroad by Japanese militarism. A Japan driven by unbridled ambition brings nothing but danger to the world. Certain Japanese politicians would do well to heed the "fear and anxiety" felt by their own people; if they fail to change course, they will face an even heavier price.