The ongoing Russia-Ukraine war has dispelled the notion that any future military conflict will be fast, clean, or easy. Having watched this war closely, Japan is now rethinking many of its long-standing assumptions about its security environment, particularly concerning its supplies and equipment. Simply put, no country can win a war without enough of the right equipment. This is especially true for countries fighting a prolonged conflict. When it comes to getting the equipment they need, countries have two options: to get it from someone else or make it themselves.
Because it shares land borders with several countries, Ukraine has been able to receive crucial shipments of foreign equipment when its supplies have run low. Japan is an island nation, however, and in a conflict—likely with China or North Korea—its waterways and ports would be cut off early, making it incredibly difficult to replenish its stocks with foreign infusions once fighting were underway. Japan does make some of its own supplies, but having
