We looked for companies not seen as defense makers that still run a real business supplying Japan's defense. Katana kept 115 companies whose annual reports mention defense, and AI read each one and supported 63.
On August 31, 2026, Japan's Ministry of Defense set a record budget request of ¥8.8908 trillion for next fiscal year. It covers AI decision support and the development of cheap, mass-produced attack drones built from commercial parts, and asks for 17 MQ-9B drones at ¥292.2 billion. Programs that depend on the year-end revision of three security documents were requested without amounts.
Orders are swelling on the receiving end too. Defense backlogs at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries and IHI reached ¥6.25 trillion at the end of March 2026, up 15% in a year, and all three booked record orders.
In April 2026, Japan dropped the rule that limited exports of finished equipment to five categories (rescue, transport, warning, surveillance and minesweeping). Transfers of all defense equipment are now possible in principle.
Defense stocks usually mean the three heavy-industry groups and makers of guns and ammunition. So are there companies not seen as defense makers that still run a real business supplying Japan's defense? We searched annual reports with Katana.
“Companies not seen as defense makers, that nonetheless run a real business supplying Japan's national defense.”
We used a word condition to keep companies whose annual reports mention defense, turned this profile into a question entered in English, and had the AI read each report.
Katana computes its metrics for every company.
AI reads each annual report and judges support and counterevidence.
Mentions of defense only as a market trend or a future plan, and uses such as consumer defensive spending or takeover defense, do not count.
read the filings and supported 63.
Of 115 companies, 63 were supported, 39 need review and 13 had counterevidence. The supported list includes defense staples such as Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Kawasaki Heavy Industries, IHI, gunmaker Howa and defense-equipment maker Ishikawa Seisakusho. Most counterevidence came from utilities, banks and others that use the word in another sense. Below are ten supported companies not seen as defense stocks.
Has worked on large offshore soil surveys for defense facilities since its 74th fiscal year.Filing ↗
Monitors the marine environment around defense facility construction.Filing ↗
Its defense business, launched in earnest a few years ago, spans soil surveys, structural design, transport, environment and building.Filing ↗
Lists the Ministry of Defense as a major customer: ¥12.4 billion, 11.8% of revenue.Filing ↗
Lists the Ministry of Defense as a major customer: ¥84.7 billion, 10.7% of revenue.Filing ↗
Lists the Acquisition, Technology & Logistics Agency as a customer at 10–20% of sales.Filing ↗
Its defense equipment business, which began with aircraft electronics, serves the Ministry of Defense's needs.Filing ↗
Names the defense market as its top focus and is stepping up R&D and sales there.Filing ↗
Plans to double defense production capacity and targets an operating margin of 10% or more in defense.Filing ↗
Large defense orders, along with dam and rail projects, supported its custom systems sales.Filing ↗
These results are from October 11, 2026. Qualitative judgments use the filings available at that time, while quantitative screening uses the latest financial data.
From the supported list, we picked companies whose annual reports name the Ministry of Defense as at least a tenth of revenue. None makes weapons or equipment. They survey ground and sea, design structures and build in the water.
| Company | Business | Sales to MoD | Share of revenue | Prior year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kawasaki Geological Engineering | Geological surveys | ¥3.92bn | 30.9% | 13.9% |
| IDEA Consultants | Environmental surveys | ¥3.53bn | 14.4% | 13.4% |
| Wakachiku Construction | Marine civil works | ¥12.40bn | 11.8% | 10.6% |
| People, Dreams & Technologies | Engineering consulting | ¥5.12bn | 11.1% | Under 10% |
| Penta-Ocean Construction | Marine construction | ¥84.67bn | 10.7% | Under 10% |
Before a base or harbor is built, someone has to survey the ground, measure the surrounding sea and draw up the design. That work goes to survey firms and builders. All five raised their defense share from the year before.
The flow may widen. On October 11, 2026, the government was reported to be considering adding railways to the public infrastructure counted as defense-related spending, to secure routes for moving supplies and equipment to the Self-Defense Forces in an emergency. Tekken, a builder whose strength is railways, writes in its report that it expects more investment in hardening defense facilities and lists defense-related work among projects laying groundwork for the future.
Conversely, Hitachi, often named as a defense stock, never mentions defense in the main sections of its annual report. How the market labels a company and what its filing describes do not always match.
Shares are as reported in each annual report, which lists customers accounting for 10% or more of sales.
Complex theses, your own selection rules. Katana narrows companies with its own metrics, and AI reads annual reports to judge qualitative conditions. The selection you used to do one company at a time, AI now runs across the Japanese market.
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