The Japanese arms-export ban, known as the Three Arms Exports Ban,[1] was a de facto law that governed Japanese export of military hardware outside of the country.[2] The export ban was eased on 1 April 2014 by Shinzo Abe during his second term as prime minister.[3]
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.[4] The three principles were that arms exports were not allowed to go to:[4]