JAPANESE COMBAT TROOPS ARE RETURNING TO THE PHILIPPINES FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 81 YEARS

The last time Japanese combat troops were on Philippine soil, the Pacific War was still being fought. That was 1945. The Philippines was on one side, Japan on the other. Hundreds of thousands of Filipino civilians and soldiers died during the Japanese occupation — a period that lasted from 1941 to 1945 and remains one of the darkest chapters in Philippine history.

This April, Japan Self-Defense Force combat troops will land in the Philippines again. Eighty-one years later. As allies.

AFP Chief of Staff General Romeo Brawner Jr. announced on March 24, 2026, at a forum in Makati City marking the 70th anniversary of Philippines-Japan diplomatic normalization, that Japan would deploy combat troops to the Balikatan exercises for the first time. His words were direct: "Eighty-one years later, this is the first time we will have Japanese combat troops again on Philippine soil. Before, we were on opposite sides. This time, we find ourselves on the same side."

HOW IT BECAME LEGALLY POSSIBLE

Japan's postwar constitution — specifically Article 9, written under U.S. occupation in 1947 — formally renounced war as a sovereign right and prohibited maintaining land, sea, and air forces. Japan created the Self-Defense Forces in 1954 as a constitutional workaround, and for decades their overseas deployments were limited to non-combat functions: humanitarian missions, UN peacekeeping logistics, disaster response.

That began shifting under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. A 2014 cabinet decision allowed Japan to exercise "collective self-defense" — meaning Japan could engage militarily if an ally came under attack. In December 2022, the Kishida administration authorized counterstrike capabilities and committed Japan to doubling its defense budget to 2 percent of GDP by 2027. Japan has since contracted to purchase up to 400 Tomahawk cruise missiles from the United States.

The immediate legal enabler is the Japan-Philippines Reciprocal Access Agreement — signed in July 2024, ratified by the Philippine Senate in December 2024, ratified by Japan's Diet in June 2025, and entered into force on September 11, 2025. The first application was in October 2025, when Japan Air Self-Defense Force personnel deployed for a humanitarian exercise. Balikatan 2026 is the first time combat troops follow.

WHAT JAPAN IS BRINGING TO BALIKATAN 41

Approximately 1,000 Japanese Self-Defense Force personnel are expected in Balikatan 2026, a figure disclosed by AFP Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans Major General Rommel Cordova at a forum on March 7, 2026. Brawner confirmed Japan would send a "bigger contingent" than in previous years but declined to detail specific units or equipment.

Balikatan 2026 — the 41st iteration of the annual Philippines-U.S. exercise — opens on April 20 and runs through May. Total participation sits at approximately 17,600 troops from the Philippines, the United States, and coalition partners including Australia, Canada, New Zealand, France, and Japan. USINDOPACOM commander Admiral Samuel Paparo Jr. personally confirmed the exercises will proceed at full scale.

Japanese forces will join field training exercises, command post drills, and cyber defense operations — a full step beyond the observer role Japan held during Balikatan 2025, which was itself Japan's first-ever participation in the exercise. France is also deploying the amphibious helicopter carrier FS Dixmude and the frigate FS Aconit.

The geographic focus of the exercises extends into northern Luzon and the Batanes Islands — roughly 120 miles south of Taiwan — and into the Luzon Strait, the passage between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea.

WHAT THIS SIGNALS TO CHINA

China had not yet issued a formal response to the March 24 announcement. Its pattern from recent exercises, however, is consistent. After Balikatan 2025, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said the exercises "compromised strategic stability" and warned that "those who play with fire will get burned." When Philippine, U.S., and Japanese forces conducted joint drills near Taiwan in late 2025, China's PLA Southern Command told the Philippines to "immediately stop provoking incidents."

What makes Balikatan 2026 structurally different from any previous edition is the operational geometry it creates. Japan's defense perimeter runs along the Ryukyu Island chain to the north of Taiwan. The Philippines — specifically Luzon and the Batanes — sits to the south. When combat-trained Japanese troops exercise alongside Philippine and American forces in the Luzon Strait, they are rehearsing control of the same chokepoint that would be decisive in any Taiwan contingency.

China conducted a record 163 operations in the South China Sea in 2025, including 55 live-fire drills. On March 7, 2026, a Chinese PLA Navy vessel aimed its fire control radar at the Philippine Navy's BRP Malvar during a routine patrol near Sabina Shoal. The Philippine Navy called it "a concerning and provocative act."

Japan and the Philippines signed an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement in January 2025 enabling logistics sharing. A first-ever U.S.-Japan-Philippines leader-level summit was held in Washington in April 2024. A March 2026 report from the Center for a New American Security recommended the three countries shift from episodic exercises to a persistent, trilateral sea denial posture across the Luzon Strait.

Brawner framed it plainly: "This development illustrates the progress of our relationship, transitioning from previous conflicts to cooperating towards common security objectives."

The last time Japan's military was in these waters, the objective was conquest. In April 2026, they return under an entirely different mandate — and Beijing is watching every exercise in that difference.