2013-07-19 According to The Japan Times:
(Excerpt):
The F-35 is to be the ASDF’s next-generation mainstay jet.
The move came after Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said in March that while the Abe administration will maintain Japan’s long-standing ban on exporting arms, it has decided to allow domestic companies to make parts for the F-35 on the belief that the United States, which is chiefly responsible for development of the jet, will strictly control shipments.
Among the firms, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd. is expected to conduct final assembly, IHI Corp. to make engine parts and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. to make radar components.