May 22, 2026

Aimed at promoting the Prime Minister Takaichi Sanae-led government’s policies, a new parliamentarians’ group, named “the National Power Research Group”, was launched by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party on May 21, and its first meeting took place on that day in the Diet building.

The number of LDP lawmakers who joined the new group in response to the call by LDP Vice President Aso Taro reached 347, accounting for nearly 80% of all LDP Deitmembers. Among the group members are Foreign Minister Motegi Toshimitsu, Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro, and LDP Policy Research Council Chair Kobayashi Takayuki.

To the first meeting, U.S. Ambassador to Japan George Edward Glass was invited as a guest and delivered a lecture on the Japan-U.S. alliance. He praised Japan’s defense policies which include the largest-ever military budget and the introduction of an enemy-base attack capability. He said that U.S. businesses in the military industrial complex, such as military drone companies, are ready to provide necessary support to the alliance, and expressed his expectation for further sales of U.S.-made arms to Japan.

It is extremely unusual for the U.S. ambassador to speak highly of Japan’s defense measures at an LDP meeting and to even mention the possibility that relevant U.S. companies will get involved in such measures. This reveals that the Japanese government makes policy decisions in line with U.S. interests.