The record-high defense budget Japan's cabinet approved on Thursday is heavily geared toward expanding the role of the country's Self-Defense Forces and broadening the cooperation between Japan and the United States.

The 5.1 trillion yen ($42.1 billion) request is part of a 96.7 trillion yen ($800 billion) national budget plan for fiscal 2016 that begins from April.

Japan's defense spending was falling before Shinzo Abe returned to the prime minister's office in 2012. Under his watch, the declines have been reversed.