Analysts warn higher costs, labour shortages and lost capacity will affect Japan’s bid for control in a sector now dominated by China
4-MIN READ4-MIN ListenJulian RyallPublished: 8:00am, 10 Apr 2026Japan is forging ahead with an investment plan that could see as much as 1 trillion yen (US$6.3 billion) pumped into its shipbuilding sector as it tries to wrest back greater control of a key strategic industry.However, analysts said money alone would not be enough to restore Japan’s former standing in a sector now dominated by China, with higher costs, labour shortages and years of lost capacity all standing in the way.
For Tokyo, repairing and building US warships in the eastern Pacific was seen as a way to offset the tariffs Trump imposed early in his second administration.
In June, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party’s special committee on marine transport set up a new forum to examine shipbuilding’s links to economic security. Before the end of the month, a proposal for large-scale investment totalling 1 trillion yen had been put forward.
