Japanese Arms Export Ban

The Japanese Arms Export Ban, known as the Three Arms Exports Ban, was a de facto law that governed Japanese export of military hardware outside of the country. The export ban was eased on 1 April 2014 by Shinzo Abe during his second term as prime minister.

The basis of the ban was the Three Principles on Arms Exports (Japanese: 武器輸出三原則, romanized: Buki-yushutsu-sangensoku) adopted by the National Diet of Japan in 1967 dealing with situations in which arms could not be exported from Japan. The three principles were that arms exports were not allowed to go to:

1. Communist bloc countries
2. Countries under arms exports embargo under United Nations Security Council resolutions
3. Countries involved in or likely to be involved in international conflicts