Germany and Japan Propose First NATO-Indo-Pacific Military Bridge

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proposed a reciprocal access agreement during a late-March 2026 Tokyo visit, allowing both nations' forces to conduct training and logistics on each other's soil without repeated diplomatic approvals. Such agreements already link Japan with Australia and the UK. A Germany-Japan RAA would institutionalize the first direct military corridor between NATO's largest economy and the Indo-Pacific, signaling that two simultaneous rearmament programs are integrating into a unified security architecture.