Germany and Japan Are Rearming Again, 80 Years After World War II NYT - Top Stories By: Jim Tankersley and Javier C. Hernández 14 June 2026 at 05:01 After becoming allies to disastrous effect in the 1940s, Berlin and Tokyo are finding new reasons to team up — including rebuilding their militaries. © Pool photo by David MareuilShinjiro Koizumi, Japan’s defense minister, and his German counterpart, Boris Pistorius, at a naval base in Yokosuka, Japan, in March. The countries have been building up their militaries.