JAPAN Law and Practice Contributed by: Makoto Terazaki, Taku Matsumoto, Suguru Yokoi, Naoko Takasaki and Jun Suzuki, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
Laws Concerning Personnel These include the Act for Establishment of the Minis - try of Defense and the Self-Defense Forces Act, the Act on the Salary, etc of Employees of the Ministry of Defense (which prescribes the salaries, allowances, and working conditions of MOD personnel), and the Self-Defense Forces Personnel Ethics Act (which pre - scribes ethical standards in the performance of duties by Self-Defense Forces personnel and regulates rela - tionships with interested parties). Additional Law In addition, separate from the above, the Act on Strengthening the Production Base for Defense Equipment and Other Items Procured by the Minis - try of Defense is a law related to the procurement of defence equipment. All of these laws fall under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Defense, including its external bureau, ATLA. 5.2 Security Vetting and Clearance Requirements In Japan, access to certain classified information held by the government requires the obtaining of a security clearance. There are multiple legal frameworks that serve as the basis for security clearance, depend - ing on the sensitivity and nature of the information in question. In transactions with the MOD, the security clearance system under the Act on the Protection of Specially Designated Secrets (the “SDS Act”) is often used. Accordingly, the discussion below focuses on that system. The SDS Act provides a security clearance system for information that falls in the category of “specially designated secrets”. This consists of certain catego - ries of classified information which, in other countries, would be classified as top secret or secret; including information relating to defence. Under the security clearance system based on the SDS Act, there are two types of clearance: Facility Clearance and Personal Clearance. Facility Clearance is granted by the ministry or agency disclosing the specially designated secret, and the review takes into account matters such as the person responsible for measures to protect secrets, internal rules concerning the protection of secrets, training on secret protec -
However, Japan expanded Russia-related sanctions in September 2025, including additional asset-freeze designations and export prohibitions targeting Rus - sian and third-country entities. Japan also reintro - duced sanctions against Iran in September 2025 fol - lowing the reapplication of prior UNSC resolutions, including measures relating to Iran’s nuclear and mis - sile programmes and conventional arms. 5. National Security Regulation 5.1 National Security Legislation Applicable to the Defence Sector Japan’s security legislation is composed of a large number of individual statutes which may be broadly grouped as follows. Laws Concerning Organisations These include the Act for Establishment of the Ministry of Defense (which prescribes the Ministry of Defense’s missions, organisation, and jurisdictional affairs) and the Self-Defense Forces Act (which prescribes the missions, structure, command and control, opera - tions, disaster relief dispatches, and other matters concerning the Self-Defense Forces). Laws Concerning Activities These include the Situation Response Act (which prescribes civil protection measures and the govern - ment’s initial response and response framework for contingencies such as armed attack situations), the Self-Defense Forces Act, the Act on Securing the Peace and Security of Japan in Situations that Will Have an Important Influence on Japan’s Peace and Security (which provides for rear-area support to for - eign armed forces in situations that have an impor - tant influence on Japan’s peace and security), the Act on Cooperation with United Nations Peacekeeping Operations and Other Operations (which prescribes the conditions and procedures for participation by the Self-Defense Forces and others in UN peacekeeping operations, etc), and the Act on the Protection of Spe - cially Designated Secrets (which provides for a secu - rity clearance system for classified information related to national security).
126 DEFENCE CONTRACTS 2026
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