SDF ramps up campus outreach amid recruitment slump

Japan Times

a day ago

With Japan's Self-Defense Forces facing a growing shortage of new recruits, their provincial cooperation offices — responsible for public relations and recruitment — are stepping up efforts to engage students by setting up publicity booths at university festivals.
Officials say the initiative is an effective way to foster a stronger connection between the public and the SDF. So far, many universities have responded positively to the outreach.
Some experts argue, however, that "on-campus agreement" is needed to ensure that academic freedom is respected.
Provincial cooperation offices have set up publicity booths at university festivals for years, but the overall picture of their activities has often been unclear because of limited public promotion.
In a notable move, the Aichi Provincial Cooperation Office, based in Nagoya, Aichi Prefecture, took the unprecedented step of publishing its booth exhibition schedule for October-November last year on its website.
Following the move, the office set up booths at 21 campuses across 17 private universities in the central prefecture over the two-month period. Officials noted that similar efforts have been made at other times as well, suggesting that the publicity initiative is now well established.
Lt. Col. Eishiro Ishii, head of the office's recruitment section, said the office is "actively doing" the schedule disclosure, while noting that there has been no significant opposition from inside or outside the universities.
A typical SDF publicity booth, set up under a tent, features pamphlets introducing the roles and responsibilities of SDF personnel, along with displays of reconnaissance motorcycles and high-mobility transportation vehicles.
Some booths also incorporate virtual reality technology, offering computer-generated experiences such as riding in a tank or performing a parachute descent.
One university official said, "This is one of the attractions that add excitement to the school festival." A student serving on the festival committee at another university responded positively, saying, "The committee invited (the SDF booth) as one of the sponsoring organizations."
At yet another university, an official welcomed the display of SDF vehicles, noting, "Children from the local community were happy to see them."
According to Defense Ministry data, the Ground, Maritime and Air SDF invited applications for 19,598 positions in fiscal 2023, but only 9,959 were filled. This reduced the recruitment achievement rate to a record low of 51%, highlighting a severe shortage of qualified personnel — a situation attributed primarily to Japan's declining births.
"I feel that (public) perceptions of the SDF have improved," Ishii said. Even so, he emphasized the need to further strengthen outreach efforts. "The public still tends to have a vague image of the SDF as a physically demanding workplace. In reality, the SDF offers a wide range of career options, but these are not widely known," he added.
Some experts have raised concerns about universities cooperating with the SDF, citing the importance of safeguarding academic freedom as guaranteed under Article 23 of the Constitution. Their concerns stem from Japan's pre-World War II history, when state power infringed upon independent academic research.
In October 2023, the ASDF's Western Air Defense Force Band performed at Tokushima University's school festival, held on the Josanjima campus in the southwestern city of Tokushima.
On learning of the planned performance in advance, the university's faculty labor union submitted a letter of inquiry, arguing that the ASDF concert was "out of line with the original purpose (of the school festival)." In response, the university explained that the event was a one-off. The SDF did not participate in the following year's festival.
Shun Ishihara, a professor of sociology and social work at Meiji Gakuin University in Tokyo, expressed caution about uncritical collaboration between academia and state institutions. "Universities need to maintain a clear boundary between themselves and powerful state entities such as the SDF," he said.
Still, Ishihara also suggested that cooperation is not inherently problematic. "It should not be ruled out if there is a clear agreement within the university," he said. In the case of Tokushima University, "the issue was that no such agreement was in place," he noted.