Skywatcher
Captain
What on Earth on you babbling about?!Japan is the top creditor country on the planet. Debt ratio to GDP was on downturn but breifly paused for covid relief. Debt buildup was partly flab for a country that didn't have such security concerns before. Defense expenditure is still a plus to Japanese econony. Japan has international backing thus far for its changes to its security posture so they won't over pressure Japan's economy. Multiple factors will get Japan's public support for greater defense expenditure such as the 2% standard in NATO, growing ties with Taiwan, and even ROK making plans for a carrier larger than Izumo. It surely won't reach 2% in 5 years, maybe in 10 years, or maybe it'll never get to 2% but that depends on the security enrionment. Maybe the PRC will stop at 8 Type 55s rather then going to 16. The 9th still has not been spotted. Maybe the Type 52Ds will stop at 25 without a new design for that weight class anytime soon. No new destroyer has been spotted yet. Maybe the 4th PRC carrier won't be in service until as late as 2035 instead of something like 2027. 2 to 3 years ago, there was clamour of 4 to 6 PLAN carriers by 2030 or something like that. But still working on the 3rd. WS-20 is taking long.. WS-15 is taking long.. The naval build up in the years 2010 to 2018 has been very fast. But maybe that fast trajectory won't continue. Still only 3 or 4 dozon J-20s rather than a 100. Japan may push to 2%. If not, then Japan may settle for 1.5% in the end due to less necessity than incapability. Some of the unprofessional posts ought to be reciprocated but these forums need to provide them space to riot like rioters needed space in Washington D.C. to riot.
The Japanese GDP to debt ratio has only shifted about 2% from 2016-2019 (and it rose, which makes your "debt ratio to GDP was on the downturn" to not just be wrong, but wrong on the level of "China and Italy used satellites to hack the 2020 election to win Georgia for Joe Biden" wrong). And it's forecasted to stay well north of 250+% for the next five years.