January 31, 2026

Akahata has learned that the 2026 fiscal year budget proposal compiled by the Takaichi Cabinet includes over 99.4 billion yen in making preparations for emergency medical care for Self-Defense Forces personnel wounded in action.

Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae on a televised debate program did not rule out the possibility of the SDF participating in a U.S.-led war against China. She said that if U.S. forces were attacked in the event of a potential Taiwan contingency, “Japan doing nothing would collapse the Japan-U.S. alliance.”

According to Akahata on January 31, the combat injury countermeasure budget aims to “enhance capabilities for on-site medical care and emergency surgery in order to improve the survival rate of SDF members wounded in war.”

The budget notably includes funds to secure blood for transfusions. This appears to be modeled on foreign militaries with combat experience, such as the U.S. military and NATO nations, which prepare for hemorrhagic shock, the primary cause of death among combat casualties.

Furthermore, in February 2025, the Japanese Federation of Funeral Business Unions, an industry group for funeral services, signed a “cooperation and collaboration agreement” with the Ground SDF.

Under the agreement, they will cooperate in “consultations regarding funerals for those who were killed in the line of duty” and “the placement and storage of remains” in preparation for possible “armed attack situations” and other “survival-threatening situations”.

As PM Takaichi hints at SDF involvement in U.S. wars, the risk of SDF personnel being wounded or killed in battle is becoming a very real possibility.

Past related article:
> US pressure may have led to SDF contract with funeral services in Japan [May 27, 2025]