U.S., U.K. and Australia discuss AUKUS tech cooperation with Japan

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In a paper earlier this year, security analyst Ryosuke Hanada wrote that Japan's restrictive arms transfer regulations and its weak anti-espionage laws rooted in its post-World War II pacifism meant its participation in AUKUS -- dubbed JAUKUS -- wasn't yet a realistic possibility.

Hanada told Nikkei that while Japan had recently made changes surrounding its defense equipment transfer rules to enable the export of next-generation fighter planes, it fell well short of the "radical and drastic" changes needed to participate in AUKUS.

"Strategically speaking Japan's participation is beneficial for everyone. That said, Japan cannot be as it is [if it wants to] better cooperate or to prevent thwarting the AUKUS partnership," said Hanada, a Ph.D. candidate at Macquarie University, noting that even with the recent changes, Japan's cabinet still must approve exports of fighter jets.

"From the perspective of future potential cooperation with AUKUS members, they don't want to wait for a Japanese cabinet decision when trying to export an AUKUS-made product to a like-minded nation," Hanada said. "They don't like to have any additional red tape in this process."