December 2, 2025

Japan’s major defense companies, such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, increased their combined earnings by 40%, Akahata reported on December 2 based on a report which the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) released on the previous day.

In the report, the SIPRI published a ranking of the 100 largest arms-producing and military services companies in the world which included five Japanese companies, including Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. The five companies’ combined revenues reached 13.3 billion dollars (about two trillion yen), up 40% from a year earlier, which is the largest growth in terms of a comprehensive summary by country.

The five companies are: Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (32nd); Kawasaki Heavy Industries (55th); Fujitsu (64th); Mitsubishi Electric (76th); and NEC (83rd). All five companies moved up in the rankings compared with last year.

According to Akahata, the SIPRI in its report pointed out that all “five companies reported double-digit percentage growth in arms revenues, driven by strong domestic demand amid Japan’s ongoing military build-up program.” The institute took Mitsubishi Heavy Industries as an example and said that the company increased its revenues by 37% year-on-year to five billion dollars, mostly from sales of aircraft and missile systems.

Kawasaki Heavy Industries in 2024 recorded a substantial increase in profits despite a scandal in which the company generated slush funds through fictitious transactions, which were then used for gifts and hospitality events for Maritime Self-Defense Force personnel.

The government led by Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae seeks to move forward with the military buildup policy that boosts the defense budget beyond 2% of GDP and to expand exports of weapons including offensive weapons systems. It is unacceptable for Japan to become yet again a “merchant of death” nation which provides huge profits to weapons manufacturers and facilitates military tensions.