A multitude of scandals threaten Japan’s national defense

Tokyo's defense modernization ambitions are striking.

The government is seeking to end a policy that has restricted the capabilities of the Self-Defense Forces to a bare minimum for decades and replace it with one that will permit active defense by allowing "counterstrike" measures as well as collective self-defense. Japan aims to do more to promote regional security, alone and in cooperation with its ally, the United States, as well as other regional partners.

To effectuate these changes, the government of Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has decided to double the country’s defense budget within five years. It is an ambitious plan and some of the most important details, such as how it will be funded, have yet to be determined. Ultimately, however, this transformation depends on public support. The Japanese people must not only accept this new approach, but they must be prepared to make sacrifices — most immediately financial, but others may be required as well. That is why a recent spate of scandals that has engulfed the Ministry of Defense and the SDF make that critical objective harder to achieve.

The nation’s defense policy and posture have been circumscribed by Article 9 of the Constitution, the so-called pacifist clause. In fact, however, the real constraint on Japan’s defense capabilities lies in public skepticism about the utility and wisdom of resorting to the use of military force, a product of history, an education system that promoted pacifism and a fear of entrapment in external affairs seemingly of little concern to the country.

That mindset has changed in recent years. An increasingly threatening regional environment has reaffirmed the need to be better prepared for nearby crises. Also, the United States, Japan’s only ally and most important security partner, is demanding increased security contributions from all its allies. The invasion of Ukraine has made clear that threats are not hypothetical and security is indivisible.

Most important, however, has been a newfound appreciation of the role of the military. Formerly, the SDF was derided and its members looked down upon by society. A reassessment began at the time of the March 2011 earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis when SDF units led the response to that calamity. That helped transform public thinking about the military. Thus, in the last Cabinet Office survey of attitudes about the SDF, released in 2022, 90.8% of respondents said that they had a good impression of the SDF and more than 40%, a record high, agreed that the size of the military should be expanded.

That progress, and support for the armed forces more generally, is imperiled by scandals involving the military that have been revealed in recent months. Most horrific has been the revelation that a female SDF member was sexually abused by male colleagues. She went public with those accusations, resulting in the offenders’ dishonorable discharge and subsequent prison sentences. Recognizing that this incident was not unique, the Defense Ministry decided to systematically address harassment issues.

In recent weeks, there have been allegations that defense contractors used false invoices to generate slush funds for wining and dining officials to influence Maritime Self-Defense Force contracts for submarine repairs. The Osaka office of the National Tax Agency has reportedly discovered that Kawasaki Heavy Industries generated funds worth more than ¥12 billion from the more than ¥10 billion it receives every year from the government to carry out inspections and maintenance work. This scheme has allegedly been carried out for 20 years.

The Defense Ministry insists that it was not overcharged for the work, but it set up a committee within the MSDF to investigate the allegations and last week ordered a “special defense inspection,” an independent probe conducted by the ministry’s Inspector General’s Office of Legal Compliance.

Even if there has been no illegality — no overcharges — if existing contracts can legally generate such large surpluses, then the contracts need more oversight to ensure that there is no waste and the relationship between the ministry and its contractors does not become too intimate.

In another financial scandal, dozens of MSDF divers reportedly have been fraudulently receiving allowances for falsified work involving training and official duties, among other things. This too has occurred over a considerable period of time and the sums total tens of millions of yen. Again, the Defense Ministry is investigating the charges and disciplinary action is anticipated.

Several services have been implicated in scandals that involve the mishandling of classified information. In one instance, MSDF officers allegedly allowed unqualified personnel to handle information related to national security — data involving the vessel movements of foreign nations. In another, a Ground Self-Defense Force officer shared secret information about SDF activities in a contingency to 15 members of his unit during a training exercise even though they were not authorized to hear it. It is believed that there are other such cases involving the Air Self-Defense Force and the Joint Staff Office responsible for integrating operations of the three branches.

Two years ago, an MSDF captain was charged with sharing secret information with unqualified personnel, in that case a former superior officer. The captain was subsequently fired and referred to prosecutors, the first such instance under the state secrets law passed in 2013. It was ultimately decided not to indict him due to insufficient evidence.

Still, heads should and will roll — disciplinary action will soon be announced and the top uniformed officer of the MSDF, Chief of Staff Adm. Ryo Sakai, has signaled his intention to resign to take responsibility — but that is not enough. These cases are the tip of the proverbial iceberg. There appears to be a systemic problem, one that demands a ministry- and service-wide effort to educate bureaucrats and soldiers about the importance of properly handling secret information, as well as reduce such misbehavior.

Worryingly, investigations into these scandals revealed cases in which senior Defense Ministry officials were accused of repeatedly making threatening remarks against subordinates.

Individually, these scandals are troubling. Together they are reflective of a problematic culture within the defense forces and bureaucracy. Overly cozy relations with contractors, sexual harassment, intimidation of junior officials and the inability to manage secret information go to the very heart of how Japan’s national security bureaucracy operates.

More such scandals can be expected to be exposed. The transformation of Japan’s defense policy will generate heightened scrutiny as budgets grow and SDF operations expand. It is only natural that transparency follows.

Those revelations cannot be allowed to undermine perceptions of and trust in the military. Its mission is too important. That does not mean that scandals should be covered up or ignored. Rather, it means that the SDF and the Defense Ministry must raise their standards, behave better, expose misbehavior when it occurs and demonstrate that they understand the stakes by demanding accountability.

Only then will Japan have the security apparatus and capabilities that it needs in this time of transition.