Japan Self-Defense Forces 日本国自衛隊
Service branches	Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force Japan Air Self-Defense Force
Manpower
Military age	18 to 49 years of age
Available for military service	27,301,443 males, age 18–49 (2010 est.), 26,307,003 females, age 18–49 (2010 est.)
Fit for military service	22,390,431 males, age 18–49 (2010 est.), 21,540,322 females, age 18–49 (2010 est.)
Reaching military age annually	623,365 males (2010 est.), 591,253 females (2010 est.)
Active personnel	247,746 (ranked 24th)
Reserve personnel	57,899
Expenditures
Budget	$55.9 billion[1][2] (2011)[3] (2012); $281.98 billion[4] (2011-2015 Planned)
Percent of GDP	1% (2011)
Industry
Domestic suppliers	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Mitsubishi Electric NEC Kawasaki Heavy Industries Toshiba Fujitsu Fuji Heavy Industries IHI Corporation Komatsu Limited Japan Steel Works Hitachi Ltd. Daikin Industries Oki Electric Industry[5]　 ShinMaywa Howa Sumitomo Heavy Industries
Foreign suppliers	United States  United Kingdom  Germany  Italy  Switzerland  France  Sweden  Poland[6]

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (自衛隊, Jieitai^?), or JSDF, occasionally referred to as JSF or SDF, are the unified military forces of Japan that were established after the end of the post–World War II Allied occupation of Japan. For most of the post-war period the JSDF was confined to the islands of Japan and not permitted to be deployed abroad. In recent years they have been engaged in international peacekeeping operations.^[7] Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea^[8] have reignited the debate over the status of the JSDF and its relation to Japanese society.^[9] New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, will direct the Jieitai away from its Cold War focus on Russia to a focus on China, especially regarding the dispute over the Senkaku Islands.^[10]

Personnel and organization[link]

The JSDF numbered 239,430 in 2005^[update] with 147,737 in the Ground Self-Defense Force, 44,327 in the Maritime Self-Defense Force, 45,517 in the Air Self-Defense Force, and 1,849 in the Joint Staff Office. Reserves numbered 57,899.^[11]

Standard of the Prime Minister

Japanese Ministry of Defense

Command Structure[link]

The Prime Minister is the Commander-in-Chief of the Self Defense Forces. The military authority runs from the Prime Minister to the Minister of Defense.^{[citation needed]}

The Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff, a 4-star General or Admiral, is the highest ranking military officer in the Japan Self Defense Forces and the Operational Authority over the Japan Self Defense Forces, with directions from the Prime Minister through the Minister of Defense.The chain of Operational Authority runs straight from the Chief of Staff of the Joint Staff to the Commanders of the several Operational Commands. Currently there are six Operational Commands in the Ground Self Defense Force, one in the Maritime Self Defense Force and one in the Air Self Defense Force.^{[citation needed]}

The service Chiefs of Staff (GSDF, MSDF, ASDF) has administrative control over his or her own service.^{[citation needed]}

Military branches[link]

• Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Army)
• Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (Navy)
• Japan Air Self-Defense Force (Air Force)

Military units[link]

• Five armies,
• Five maritime districts, and
• Three air defense forces.

The result has been a unique military system. All SDF personnel are technically civilians: those in uniform are classified as special civil servants and are subordinate to the ordinary civil servants who run the Ministry of Defense.^{[citation needed]} There are no military secrets, military laws, or offenses committed by military personnel; whether on-base or off-base, on-duty or off-duty, of a military or non-military nature, are all adjudicated under normal procedures by civil courts in appropriate jurisdictions.^{[citation needed]}

Defense policy[link]

Japan's Basic Policy for National Defense stipulates the following policies:^[12]

1. Maintaining an exclusive defense-oriented policy.
2. To avoid becoming a major military power that might pose a threat to the world.
3. Refraining from the development of nuclear weapons, and to refuse to allow nuclear weapons inside Japanese territory. (Three Non-Nuclear Principles)
4. Ensuring civilian control of the military.
5. Maintaining security arrangements with the United States.
6. Building up defensive capabilities within moderate limits.
7. Strict limits on arms exports.(Three Principles on Arms Exports)

Reflecting a tension concerning the Forces' legal status, the Japanese term gun (軍^?, pronounced [ɡuɴ]), referring to a military or armed force, and the English terms "military", "army", "navy", and "air force" are never used in official references to the JSDF.^{[citation needed]}

For example, the Japanese name of JSDF is "Jieitai"(自衛隊), but tai (隊^?, pronounced [tai]) literally means only "party" or "group" or "team" in English, and it does not contain the implication of military. For this reason, JSDF is not considered to be "military" in Japan. In addition, the people in JSDF are officially called Jieitaiin(自衛隊員) in Japanese, and in (員^?, pronounced [iɴ])　literally means only "members" in English. So they are just "the Self-Defense Group Members", they are not considered to be　the "soldiers" in general in Japan. In reality, JSDF are armed and equipped with modern firearms, so it was impossible to explain that they are not "Force / Military" in international society. For this reason, JSDF uses the term of "Force" when they refer to themselves in English.^{[citation needed]}

Article 9[link]

In theory, Japan's rearmament is prohibited by Article 9 of the Japanese constitution which states: "The Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes", and also, "land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained." In practice however, the Diet (or Parliament), which Article 41 of the Constitution defines as "the highest organ of the state power", established the Self-Defense Forces in 1954. Although they are equipped as a conventional military force, they are by law an extension of the police force, created solely to ensure national security. Due to the constitutional debate concerning the Forces' status, any attempt at increasing the Forces' capabilities and budget tends to be controversial. Thus the JSDF's capabilities are mainly defensive, with only limited overseas capabilities. The JSDF lacks offensive capabilities such as aircraft carriers, long-range surface-to-surface missiles, ballistic missiles, strategic bombers,^[13] marines, amphibious units, and large caches of ammunition. The Rules of Engagement are strictly defined by the Self-Defence Forces Act 1954.^{[citation needed]}

Budget[link]

Rank		Country	Military expenditure (2009)[14]	% of GDP (2008)
1		USA	663,255,000,000	4.3%
2		China	98,800,000,000	2.0%
3		UK	69,271,000,000	2.5%
4		France	67,316,000,000	2.3%
5		Russian Federation	63,255,000,000	3.5%
6		Germany	48,022,000,000	1.3%
7		Japan	46,859,000,000	0.9%
8		Saudi Arabia	39,257,000,000	8.2%
9		Italy	37,427,000,000	1.7%
10		India	36,600,000,000	2.6%
11		South Korea	27,130,000,000	2.8%

In 1976, then Prime Minister Miki Takeo announced defence spending should be maintained within 1% of Japan's Gross Domestic Product (GDP),^[15] a ceiling that was observed until 1986.^[16] Currently, Japan's military budget is maintained at about 3% of the national budget; about half is spent on personnel costs while the rest is for new weapons programs, maintenance and operating costs.^[17]

History[link]

Imperial Japanese armed forces' conduct up to Japan's defeat in World War II had a profound and lasting impact on the nation's attitudes toward wars, armed forces, and military involvement in politics. These attitudes were immediately apparent in the public's acceptance of not only the total disarmament, demobilization and the purge of all the military leaders from positions of public influence after the war but also the constitutional ban on any rearmament. Under General Douglas MacArthur of the United States Army, serving as the Supreme Commander of the Allied Powers, the Allied occupation authorities were committed to the demilitarization and democratization of Japan. All clubs, schools, and societies associated with the military and martial skills were eliminated. Martial arts were banned. The general staff was abolished, along with army and navy ministries and the Imperial Army and Imperial Navy. Industries serving the military were also dismantled.^{[citation needed]}

The trauma of the lost war had produced strong pacifist sentiments among the nation, that found expression in the United States-written 1947 constitution, which, under Article 9, forever renounces war as an instrument for settling international disputes and declares that Japan will never again maintain "land, sea, or air forces or other war potential".^{[citation needed]} Later cabinets interpreted these provisions as not denying the nation the inherent right to self-defense and, with the encouragement of the United States, developed the SDF step by step. Antimilitarist public opinion, however, remained a force to be reckoned with on any defense-related issue. The constitutional legitimacy of the SDF was challenged well into the 1970s, and even in the 1980s, the government acted warily on defense matters lest residual antimilitarism be aggravated and a backlash result.^[18]

Early development[link]

National Police Reserve (24 August 1950)

Deprived of any military capability after 1945, the nation had only occupation forces and a minor domestic police force on which to rely for security. Rising Cold War tensions in Europe and Asia, coupled with leftist-inspired strikes and demonstrations in Japan, prompted some conservative leaders to question the unilateral renunciation of all military capabilities. These sentiments were intensified in 1950 when most occupation troops were transferred to the Korean War (1950–53) theater, leaving Japan virtually defenseless, and very much aware of the need to enter into a mutual defense relationship with the United States to guarantee the nation's external security. Encouraged by the American occupation authorities, the Japanese government in July 1950 authorized the establishment of a National Police Reserve, consisting of 75,000 men equipped with light infantry weapons.^{[citation needed]}

Under the terms of the Mutual Security Assistance Pact, ratified in 1952 along with the peace treaty Japan had signed with the United States and other countries, United States forces stationed in Japan were to deal with external aggression against Japan while Japanese forces, both ground and maritime, would deal with internal threats and natural disasters. Accordingly, in mid-1952 the National Police Reserve was expanded to 110,000 men and named the National Safety Forces. The Coastal Safety Force, which had been organized in 1950 as a waterborne counterpart to the National Police Reserve, was transferred with it to the National Safety Agency to constitute an embryonic navy.^{[citation needed]}

As Japan perceived a growing external threat without adequate forces to counter it, the National Safety Forces underwent further development that entailed difficult political problems. The war renunciation clause of the constitution was the basis for strong political objections to any sort of armed force other than conventional police force. In 1954, however, separate land, sea, and air forces for purely defensive purposes were created, subject to the command of the Prime Minister.^{[citation needed]}

To avoid the appearance of a revival of militarism, Japan's leaders emphasized constitutional guarantees of civilian control of the government and armed forces and used nonmilitary terms for the organization and functions of the forces. At first, tanks were called "special vehicles". The forces' administrative department was granted only an agency status, rather than a full-fledged ministry status. The armed forces were designated the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), and the Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF), instead of the army, navy, and air force. In theory, these are not armed forces, but merely extensions of the Police Force.^{[citation needed]}

Although possession of nuclear weapons is not explicitly forbidden in the constitution, Japan, as the only nation to have experienced the devastation of nuclear attacks, expressed early its abhorrence of nuclear arms and its determination never to acquire them. The Atomic Energy Basic Law of 1956 limits research, development, and utilization of nuclear power to peaceful uses only, and beginning in 1956, national policy has embodied "three non-nuclear principles" — forbidding the nation to possess or manufacture nuclear weapons or to allow them to be introduced into its territories. In 1976 Japan ratified the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (adopted by the United Nations Security Council in 1968) and reiterated its intention never to "develop, use, or allow the transportation of nuclear weapons through its territory." Nonetheless, because of its generally high technology level and large number of operating nuclear power plants, Japan is generally considered to be "nuclear capable," i.e., it could develop a usable weapon in a short period of time if the political situation changed significantly.^[18]

On June 8, 2006, the Cabinet of Japan endorsed a bill elevating the Defense Agency (防衛庁) under the Cabinet Office to full-fledged cabinet level Ministry of Defense (防衛省). This was passed by the Diet in December 2006.^{[19][dated info]}

Japan has also deepened its security and military ties with Australia and its leaders are talking about the formation of a military pact in Asia similar to NATO.^{[20][dated info]}

Anti-ballistic missile deployment[link]

JDS Kongō (DDG-173) firing a Standard Missile 3 anti-ballistic missile to intercept a target missile launched from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on December 17, 2007.

After the North Korean Kwangmyŏngsŏng-1 satellite launching in August 1998, which some regarded as a ballistic missile test, the Japanese government decided to participate in the American anti-ballistic missile (ABM) defense program. In August 1999, Japan and the US governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding of joint research and development on the Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System.^[21] In 2003, the Japanese government decided to deploy two types of ABM system, sea-based Aegis and land-based PAC-3 ABM.

All of the 4 Kongō class Aegis destroyers of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force were modified to accommodate the ABM operational capability.^[22] On December 17, 2007, JDS Kongō successfully shot down a mock ballistic missile by its SM-3 Block IA, off the coast of Hawaii.^[23] The first PAC-3 (upgraded version of the MIM-104 Patriot) shooting test by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force was carried out in New Mexico on September 17, 2008.^[24] PAC-3 units are deployed in 6 bases near metropolises, including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Sapporo, Misawa and Okinawa.

Japan participates in the co-research and development of four Aegis components with the US: the nose cone, the infrared seeker, the kinetic warhead, and the second-stage rocket motor.^[25]

Uniforms, ranks, and insignia[link]

Dress uniforms in all three SDF branches are similar in style to those worn by United States forces. GSDF dress uniforms previously blue-grey, are now olive green; MSDF personnel wear traditional blue dress, white service, and khaki work uniforms; and ASDF personnel wear the lighter shade of blue worn by the United States Air Force. The GSDF and MSDF share the same camouflage field uniforms, which are similar to the Bundeswehr's flecktarn but with lighter shades of brown and green, while the ASDF has its own unique camouflage uniform consisting of pattern similar to the Dutch military's camouflage scheme in brown and tan.^{[citation needed]}

The arm of service to which members of the ground force are attached is indicated by branch insignia and piping of distinctive colors: for infantry, red; artillery, yellow; armor, orange; engineers, violet; ordnance, light green; medical, green; army aviation, light blue; signals, blue; quartermaster, brown; transportation, dark violet; airborne, white; and others, dark blue. The cap badge insignia the GSDF is a sakura cherry blossom bordered with two ivy branches underneath, and a single chevron centered on the bottom between the bases of the branches; the MSDF cap badge insignia consists of a fouled anchor underneath a cherry blossom bordered on the sides and bottom by ivy vines; and the ASDF cap badge insignia features a heraldic eagle under which is a star and crescent which is bordered underneath with stylized wings.^{[citation needed]}

There are nine officer ranks in the active SDF, along with a warrant officer rank, five NCO ranks, and three enlisted ranks. The highest NCO rank, first sergeant (senior chief petty officer in the MSDF and senior master sergeant in the ASDF), was established in 1980 to provide more promotion opportunities and shorter terms of service as sergeant first class, chief petty officer, or master sergeant. Under the earlier system, the average NCO was promoted only twice in approximately thirty years of service and remained at the top rank for almost ten years.^[18]

Recruitment and conditions of service[link]

JMSDF Kongō class destroyer

JMSDF Hyūga class helicopter destroyer

JGSDF Type 10 MBT

JGSDF Type 90 MBT

JASDF F-15J & F-15DJ

JASDF F-2

The total strength of the three branches of the SDF was 246,400 in 1992^{[dated info]}. In addition, the SDF maintained a total of 48,400 reservists attached to the three services. Even when Japan's active and reserve components are combined, however, the country maintains a lower ratio of military personnel to its population than does any member nation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Of the major Asian nations, only India and Indonesia keep a lower ratio of personnel in arms.^{[citation needed]}

The SDF is an all-volunteer force. Conscription per se is not forbidden by law, but many citizens consider Article 18 of the constitution, which prohibits involuntary servitude except as punishment for a crime, as a legal prohibition of any form of conscription. Even in the absence of so strict an interpretation, however, a military draft appears politically impossible.^{[citation needed]}

SDF uniformed personnel are recruited as private, E-1, seaman recruit, and airman basic for a fixed term. Ground forces recruits normally enlist for two years; those seeking training in technical specialties enlist for three. Naval and air recruits normally enlist for three years. Officer candidates, students in the National Defense Academy and National Defense Medical College, and candidate enlist students in technical schools are enrolled for an indefinite period. The National Defense Academy and enlisted technical schools usually require an enrollment of four years, and the National Defense Medical College require six years.^{[citation needed]}

When the SDF was originally formed, women were recruited exclusively for the nursing services. Opportunities were expanded somewhat when women were permitted to join the GSDF communication service in 1967 and the MSDF and ASDF communication services in 1974. By 1991 more than 6,000 women were in the SDF, about 80% of service areas, except those requiring direct exposure to combat, were open to them. The National Defense Medical College graduated its first class with women in March 1991, and the National Defense Academy began admitting women in FY 1992.^{[citation needed]}

In the face of some continued post–World War II public apathy or antipathy toward the armed services, the SDF has difficulties in recruiting personnel. The SDF has to compete for qualified personnel with well-paying industries, and most enlistees are "persuaded" volunteers who sign up after solicitation from recruiters. Predominantly rural prefectures supply military enlistees far beyond the proportions of their populations. In areas such as southern Kyūshū and northern Hokkaidō, where employment opportunities are limited, recruiters are welcomed and supported by the citizens.

Because the forces are all volunteer and legally civilian, members can resign at any time, and retention is a problem. Many enlistees are lured away by the prospects of highly paying civilian jobs, and Defense Agency officials complain of private industries luring away their personnel. The agency attempts to stop these practices by threats of sanctions for offending firms that hold defense contracts and by private agreements with major industrial firms. Given the nation's labor shortage, however, the problem is likely to continue.^{[citation needed]}

Some older officers, although not old enough to have participated in the Second World War, consider the members of the modern forces unequal to personnel of the former Imperial Army and Imperial Navy, but the SDF are generally regarded as professional and competent. Compared with their counterparts in other nations, members of the SDF are remarkably well educated and in good physical condition^{[citation needed]}. Literacy is universal, and school training is extensive. Personnel are trained in the martial arts, such as judo and kendo, and physical standards are strict. Graduates of the top universities rarely enter the armed forces, and applicants to the National Defense Academy are generally considered to be on the level of those who apply to second-rank local universities.^{[citation needed]}

General conditions of military life are not such that a career in the SDF seems an attractive alternative to one in private industry or the bureaucracy. The conditions of service provide less dignity, prestige, and comfort than they had before the Second World War when militarism was at a high point and military leaders were considered influential in not only military affairs but virtually all aspects of society. For most members of the defense establishment, military life offers less status than does a civilian occupation with a major corporation.^{[citation needed]}

As special civil servants, SDF personnel are paid according to civilian pay scales that do not always discriminate between ranks. At times, SDF salaries are greater for subordinates than for commanding officers; senior non-commissioned officers (NCOs) with long service can earn more than newly promoted colonels. Pay raises are not included in Defense Agency budgets and can not be established by military planners. Retirement ages for officers below general/flag rank range from fifty-three to fifty-five years, and from fifty to fifty-three for enlisted personnel. Limits are sometimes extended because of personnel shortages. In the late 1980s, the Defense Agency, concerned about the difficulty of finding appropriate post retirement employment for these early retirees, began providing vocational training for enlisted personnel about to retire and transferring them to units close to the place where they intend to retire. Beginning in October 1987, the Self-Defense Forces Job Placement Association provided free job placement and reemployment support for retired SDF personnel. Retirees also receive pensions immediately upon retirement, some ten years earlier than most civil service personnel. Financing the retirement system promises to be a problem of increasing scope in the 1990s, with the aging of the population.^{[citation needed]}

SDF personnel benefits are not comparable to such benefits for active-duty military personnel in other major industrialized nations. Health care is provided at the SDF Central Hospital, fourteen regional hospitals, and 165 clinics in military facilities and on board ship, but the health care only covers physical examinations and the treatment of illness and injury suffered in the course of duty. There are no commissary or exchange privileges. Housing is often substandard, and military appropriations for facilities maintenance often focus on appeasing civilian communities near bases rather than on improving on-base facilities.^[18]

In 2010 Sapporo District Court fined the state after a female Air SDF member was sexually assaulted by a colleague then forced to retire, while the perpetrator was merely suspended for 60 days.[1]

Missions and deployments[link]

Having renounced war, the possession of war potential, the right of belligerency, and the possession of nuclear weaponry, it held the view that it should possess only the minimum defense necessary to face external threats. Within those limits, the Self-Defense Forces Law of 1954 provides the basis from which various formulations of SDF missions have been derived. The law states that ground, maritime, and air forces are to preserve the peace and independence of the nation and to maintain national security by conducting operations on land, at sea, and in the air to defend the nation against direct and indirect aggression.^{[citation needed]}

JGSDF soldiers during a training exercise

The general framework through which these missions are to be accomplished is set forth in the Basic Policy for National Defense adopted by the cabinet in 1957; it remains in force. According to this document, the nation's security would be achieved by supporting the United Nations Organization (UN) and promoting international cooperation, by stabilizing domestic affairs and enhancing public welfare, by gradually developing an effective self-defense capability, and by dealing with external aggression on the basis of Japan-United States security arrangements, pending the effective functioning of the UN.^{[citation needed]}

The very general terms in which military missions are couched left specifics open to wide interpretation and prompted the criticism that the nation did not possess a military strategy. In the 1976 National Defense Program Outline, the cabinet sought to define missions more specifically by setting guidelines for the nation's readiness, including specific criteria for the maintenance and operation of the SDF. Under these guidelines, in cases of limited and small-scale attack, Japanese forces would respond promptly to control the situation. If enemy forces attacked in greater strength than Japan could counter alone, the SDF would engage the attacker until the United States could come to its aid. Against nuclear threat, Japan would rely on the nuclear deterrence of the United States. To accomplish its missions, the SDF would maintain surveillance, be prepared to respond to direct and indirect attacks, be capable of providing command, communication, logistics, and training support, and be available to aid in disaster relief.^{[citation needed]}

A JASDF Kawasaki C-1 military transport aircraft

The outline specified quotas of personnel and equipment for each force that were deemed necessary to meet its tasks. Particular elements of each force's mission were also identified. The GSDF was to defend against ground invasion and threats to internal security, be able to deploy to any part of the nation, and protect the bases of all three services of the Self-Defense Forces. The MSDF was to meet invasion by sea, sweep mines, patrol and survey the surrounding waters, and guard and defend coastal waters, ports, bays, and major straits. The ASDF was to render aircraft and missile interceptor capability, provide support fighter units for maritime and ground operations, supply air reconnaissance and air transport for all forces, and maintain airborne and stationary early warning units.^{[citation needed]}

Disaster relief, GSDF

The Mid-Term Defense Estimate for FY 1986 through FY 1990 envisioned a modernized SDF with an expanded role. While maintaining Japan-United States security arrangements and the exclusively defensive policy mandated by the constitution, this program undertook moderate improvements in Japanese defense capabilities. Among its specific objectives were bettering air defense by improving and modernizing interceptor-fighter aircraft and surface-to-air missiles, improving antisubmarine warfare capability with additional destroyers and fixed-wing antisubmarine patrol aircraft, and upgrading intelligence, reconnaissance, and command, control, and communications. Most of the goals of this program were met, and the goals of the Mid-Term Defense Estimate for FY 1991 through FY 1995, although building on the early program, were considerably scaled back.^{[citation needed]}

The SDF disaster relief role is defined in Article 83 of the Self-Defense Forces Law of 1954, requiring units to respond to calls for assistance from prefectural governors to aid in fire fighting, earthquake disasters, searches for missing persons, rescues, and reinforcement of embankments and levees in the event of flooding. The SDF has not been used in police actions, nor is it likely to be assigned any internal security tasks in the future.^{[18][citation needed]}

Peacekeeping[link]

Close up view of the uniform of a Japan Self-Defense Force soldier serving in Baghdad, Iraq (April 2005).