Latest news with #SelfDefenceForces
South China Morning Post
23-07-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Japan's corporate boot camps enlist military discipline to drill soft skills
Japanese companies are once again sending fresh recruits to boot camps run by the military in a bid to instil teamwork, discipline and basic social skills that many believe were lost during the pandemic-era shift to online learning and remote work. The 'enlistment experience' programmes, operated by Japan 's Self-Defence Forces (SDF), simulate aspects of military life – from dawn roll-calls and mess hall etiquette to marching drills and group exercises – and are seeing a revival after plummeting during the Covid-19 pandemic. Between 2015 and the start of the pandemic, the Ground – as the land warfare branch of Japan's military is – organised between 1,200 and 1,700 such sessions annually, according to the Ground Staff Office. That number fell to about 100 during the height of the health crisis, but has since rebounded to nearly 400 a year, the Asahi newspaper reported. The Air and Maritime branches of Japan's military have also resumed their versions of the programme, though they do not track corporate participation. New recruits practise squad drills during a Self-Defence Forces 'enlistment experience' session, where synchronised movement and following orders are key training elements. Photo: Japan Self-Defence Force Companies that have embraced the scheme say the goal is not to militarise employees, but to address a widening soft-skills gap among young people who missed out on in-person socialisation during critical formative years. Nissan Motor Kyushu, a car manufacturer based in Kanda, Fukuoka prefecture, has sent new employees to SDF training for the past two years.
South China Morning Post
04-07-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Is Japan facing higher risk of drone warfare over Diaoyu Islands?
Advertisement In response to a written query from a lawmaker, the Japanese government affirmed at a cabinet meeting on June 27 that the Self-Defence Forces could take such an action even if foreign drones were not an immediate threat to the country's security. Ryo Hinata-Yamaguchi, an associate professor at Tokyo International University's Institute for International Strategy, said the clarification was less about a policy change and more about codifying what had already been tacitly understood. 'The decision in itself is not particularly significant as this is dealing with uncrewed aircraft, which is very different to the far more stringent rules attached to dealing with manned aircraft,' he said. Still, Hinata-Yamaguchi warned that the explicit rules might invite Beijing to test Tokyo's stance. Advertisement 'Beijing may well decide to try to call Japan's bluff on this by sending a drone into Japanese airspace and seeing how Japan responds,' he told This Week in Asia. 'If I were the Chinese, that is what I would do.'
South China Morning Post
11-06-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
China's military says Japan ‘breaching pacifist constitution' with long-range missile tests
China's military has accused Japan of undermining regional security after it tested new long-range anti-ship and hypersonic missiles. A commentary published by the military mouthpiece People's Liberation Army Daily on Wednesday said that the extended range of missiles would be 'a real deterrent to multiple surrounding areas'. It also argued that the increased ability to strike long-range targets was 'breaking the restrictions of the pacifist constitution that the Japanese Self-Defence Forces cannot possess offensive weapons'. The constitution was imposed after Japan's defeat in the second world war. The missiles were tested as part of an annual live-fire drill near Mount Fuji on Sunday. The upgraded Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles and hypersonic Hyper Velocity Gliding Projectile (HVGP) will be deployed in Kyushu, the southernmost of Japan's four main islands, while the HVGP may also be stationed in Hokkaido in the north, according to Japanese media reports. PLA Daily said the choice of location, which avoided 'sensitive' segments of the first island chain such as Okinawa , was designed to minimise international criticism of Japan's military expansion. 'In fact, rather than enhancing its defence capabilities, Japan has been leaping toward 'first strike capabilities' in the name of building so-called 'counter strike capabilities',' the article said.
South China Morning Post
09-06-2025
- South China Morning Post
Explosion rocks US airbase in Japan's Okinawa; 4 injured
An explosion occurred at a Japanese military facility inside a US airbase in Okinawa, officials said, with local media reporting non-life-threatening injuries. A defence ministry spokesman said they had received reports of an explosion at the Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) facility inside Kadena Air Base in the southern Japanese region. Jiji Press and other local media said four injuries had been reported, but none were life-threatening. Public broadcaster NHK said, citing unnamed defence ministry sources, that the explosion may have occurred at a temporary storage site for unexploded bombs, with officials trying to confirm the situation. 'We've heard there was an explosion at the SDF facility and also heard there were injuries but we don't have further details,' said Yuta Matsuda, a local official of Yomitan village in Okinawa. More to follow …
South China Morning Post
11-05-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Why Japan's coastguard has a recruitment problem
The Japanese coastguard continues to experience a manpower shortage as its ability to safeguard the country's sovereignty over disputed islands could be affected by the exit of hundreds of its staff. Advertisement A total of 389 people voluntarily resigned from the coastguard in 2024, according to a report in the Yomiuri newspaper, bringing its staff strength down to 14,123 as of the end of the financial year on March 31. The personnel who left were six fewer compared with the same period a year earlier, partly due to an aggressive recruitment campaign. But there are concerns that more may leave the service this year. Since 2013, the coastguard has been seeking to recruit more people to counter a rise in intrusions by Chinese vessels into waters around the Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea. The islands are presently controlled by Japan , which refers to them as the Senkaku archipelago. 'The coastguard is facing a similar challenge to the Self-Defence Forces, although there are some differences,' said Garren Mulloy, a professor of international relations at Daito Bunka University and a specialist in military issues. Advertisement 'One of the most fundamental problems for the coastguard is that by its nature, personnel are away from friends and family for extended periods, which makes it less appealing as a career choice,' he told This Week in Asia.
