Early this month, a Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter based in Kumamoto Prefecture crashed off the coast of Irabu Island in the Miyako Island group in Okinawa Prefecture. All 10 SDF members on board are believed to have been killed.

Despite frantic efforts by the SDF, Japan Coast Guard and local fishermen to locate survivors, they were unsuccessful, although parts of the UH60JA helicopter were found. On April 13, a week after the crash, the Maritime Self-Defense Force minesweeper Etajima located the main section of the helicopter. At the time of this writing, five of the missing had been found and confirmed dead and the search for the other members continues.

Due to the depths of the surrounding waters, the recovery of the well-regarded aircraft, which will help solve the mystery of what happened, may be challenging, however.

But more than the loss of the aircraft, the likely deaths of the SDF personnel — one of the single greatest losses of life in the organization’s history — is particularly devastating for Japan as it tries to rapidly speed up its defense capabilities in the Nansei Islands.

Of significant importance, though, Lt. Gen. Yuichi Sakamoto, the commanding general of the GSDF’s 8th Division, based in Kumamoto Prefecture and responsible for the defense of Kumamoto, Kagoshima and Miyazaki prefectures, as well as many of the islands to the southwest including Amami, the command’s directors for intelligence and operations were also lost. These positions represent some of the most critically important functions within the military.

Basically the key leadership of Western Japan’s defenses — certainly of the 8th Division — was temporarily lost. This crash therefore is a huge blow to defensive preparations.

Hopefully, the investigation will clarify what happened and what future precautions (such as not having senior personnel fly in the same aircraft or travel in the same vehicles) should be adopted or re-emphasized. Needless to say, the investigation should be transparent and thorough as well.

Regarding the men lost, in addition to a likely ceremony at a future date at their headquarters in Kumamoto, they will certainly be honored this fall along with others lost in the line of duty over the past year as part of an annual ceremony conducted at the Ministry of Defense in Ichigaya, Tokyo.

This ceremony has been conducted annually since 1957. Since the 1990s, almost every prime minister, who serves as the supreme commander of the Self-Defense Forces, has attended, in addition to the leadership of the Ministry of Defense and family members of those being honored as well as those in the past.

Currently, there are 2,054 personnel who are honored there, including 1,102 GSDF personnel, 485 MSDF and 436 ASDF (the SDF's air wing). Another 31 members are honored from other MOD-affiliated entities. Many of the deaths over the past 70 years (since the creation in 1950 of the National Police Reserves, the predecessor to the GSDF), are from accidents such as the helicopter crash, other vehicles and training-related incidents.

The holding of the ceremony began during the prime ministership of Nobusuke Kishi, who attended in person in 1957. He was followed five years later by Hayato Ikeda in 1962. After a long and inexplicable gap of more than two and a half decades, Prime Minister Noboru Takeshita attended in 1988. He was followed by Tomiichi Murayama, a socialist prime minister who headed a coalition government, in 1995.

Since then, every prime minister has attended the ceremony each year with the exception of Yukio Hatoyama (who was represented by then-Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirofumi Hirano).

Last year, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida attended and spoke at the ceremony, whose participation was limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. At that time, 35 members of the SDF were being honored, including 16 from the GSDF, 15 from the MSDF and four from the ASDF.

The ceremony was held in front of a large monument for SDF members killed in the line of duty located in the memorial zone in the eastern part of Ichigayadai, where the Ministry of Defense sits.

The monument was first built in 1962 (and refurbished in 1980). The center stone is black granite and is flanked by white granite stones carved in the shape of Mt. Fuji. The epigraph was inscribed by then Prime Minister Zenko Suzuki.

In addition to Japanese officials, foreign VIPs also visit to lay wreaths at the monument.

Because of the hazardous work of the Self-Defense Forces, it is likely that ceremonies will continue well into the future. Since its creation in 1954, the SDF has not been involved in direct combat operations per se, but operating a military on a daily basis can be dangerous even when done by professionals.

In the post-Cold War period and especially in recent years, the SDF is growing increasingly busy and stretched more and more. The public should be grateful for their service while demanding transparency, accountability and improvements in their day-to-day operations.

Robert D. Eldridge is a former associate professor of U.S.-Japan relations at Osaka University, former political adviser to the U.S. Marine Corps in Okinawa. He is the co-editor of "The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Forces: Search for Legitimacy" (Palgrave MacMillan, 2017) and "The Japan Self-Defense Forces Law: Translation, History, and Analysis" (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2019).