Abstract: Kishida Cabinet‘s revision of the three security documents is a major adjustment of Japan’s defense policy after World War II, and its core is to possess the counterstrike capabilities. Because of Kishidas weak political base and weak cabinet, he had to rely on the Liberal Democratic Party and the United States to assist in decisionmaking. Driven by him, the LDP played a key role in the decisionmaking process about the counterstrike capabilities, and this process reflected the obvious characteristic of “High Government and High Party”. The LDP had led the discussion on the specifics of the counterstrike capabilities and had clarified the equipment and technology needed for them in cooperation with the Defense Ministry. However, the conservative forces of the LDP, which had been gaining power, were in conflict with Kishida over the budget and financial resources needed for the counterstrike capabilities, threatening his decisionmaking power. On the other hand, the United States also played a boosting and accelerating role in the decisionmaking process, and may continue to affect the implementation process of Japan’s counterstrike capabilities in the future.

Key words: Kishida Cabinet, defense policy, three security documents, decision-making process, counterstrike capabilities