Japan is one of the world’s top 10 biggest military spenders, even though its defence budget has rarely exceeded 1% of the GDP. The United States has been pressing its allies to chip in more.
Asked whether they agreed with the Liberal Democrat government's plan, 37.2% told Kyodo news agency they were in favour of the hike, while 31.5% said there was no need to raise the military expenditures.
The nationwide telephone survey was conducted from 18-19 June. It found that the governing Liberal Democratic Party was leading in the polls by almost 20 percentage points. Second-placed conservative Innovation Party was at 7.7%, while the liberal Constitutional Democratic Party was third at 7%.