Tag - gsdf

 
 

GSDF

Residents of Uruma, Okinawa Prefecture, hold a rally in the city on March 20 to oppose the construction of a Ground Self-Defense Force training ground.
JAPAN
Apr 12, 2024
Japan scraps plan for new GSDF training ground in Okinawa
Locals were opposing the plan because the site is close to a residential area.
The Osprey provides vertical takeoff and landing like a helicopter but is also capable of flying at high speeds over long distances when operating as a conventional plane.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 3, 2024
The Japan-U.S. alliance needs the versatile Osprey
In Japan, there has been an outsized and lingering concern about the aircraft’s safety. That concern is, frankly, misplaced,
The wreckage of a Ground Self-Defense Force helicopter is salvaged by a vessel off Ikema Island in Okinawa Prefecture last May.
JAPAN / Politics
Mar 11, 2024
GSDF probe fails to identify cause of deadly helicopter crash
The cause of the crash that killed all 10 on board could not be pinpointed because part of the flight recorder data was damaged.
Yasukuni Shrine in Tokyo's Chiyoda Ward
JAPAN
Jan 12, 2024
Vice GSDF chief visited Yasukuni Shrine with subordinates
The ministry is investigating the details as the visit may be a violation of an administrative vice minister directive issued in 1974.
Members of the Ground Self-Defense Force take part in a joint military drill in Funabashi, Chiba Prefecture, in January.
JAPAN
Dec 23, 2023
Japanese major general demoted over power harassment
The punishment was the second heaviest available after dismissal and the first two-rank demotion at the GSDF.
The Self-Defense Forces face numerous obstacles in meeting their recruitment targets: Demographics, private-sector competition and image and morale issues.
EDITORIALS
Nov 3, 2023
The SDF has a big problem: Filling its ranks
The Japanese government needs to take steps to address SDF recruitment challenges that put the nation's security at risk.
JAPAN
Jul 21, 2023
GSDF amphibious unit now seen as 'partner' of U.S. Marines
The GSDF unit and the U.S. Marine Corps have conducted many joint exercises, and the two sides can now work together in higher-level operations, according to GSDF Col. Taisuke Fujimura.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jul 21, 2023
Mental evaluation begins for GSDF fatal shooting suspect
The June 14 shooting during a live-fire training session left Master Sgt. Yasuchika Kikumatsu and Sgt. Kosuke Yashiro dead, and another 25-year-old sergeant seriously wounded.
JAPAN / FOCUS
Jul 21, 2023
GSDF amphibious unit now seen as 'partner' of U.S. Marines
The GSDF unit and the U.S. Marine Corps have conducted many joint exercises, and the two sides can now work together in higher-level operations, according to GSDF Col. Taisuke Fujimura.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 21, 2023
Motive still unclear a week after shooting at Self-Defense Forces facility
The motive remains unclear for a shooting range attack by a Ground Self-Defense Force cadet in Gifu a week ago that killed two GSDF members and injured another.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 19, 2023
Japan GSDF police raid family home of cadet over rifle attack
The cadet loaded his rifle without permission soon after the start of a live-fire drill, then shot several people, killing two.
JAPAN
Jun 18, 2023
Memorial service held for victims of April GSDF chopper crash
The Ground Self-Defense Force is investigating the cause of the accident by analyzing the salvaged wreckage and the helicopter's flight data recorders.
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Jun 15, 2023
SDF shooting suspect referred to prosecutors as details of incident emerge
The incident took place at a GSDF shooting range in the city of Gifu the day before, with the suspect telling investigators that he targeted a 52-year-old instructor.
JAPAN
Jun 14, 2023
Two dead after shooting at Self-Defense Forces gun range in central Japan
An 18-year-old male suspect, a recent recruit of the Self-Defense Forces, was arrested at the scene.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Apr 21, 2023
Memorializing those lost in the GSDF helicopter crash
All 10 SDF members on board a helicopter that crashed in the Miyako Island group are believed to have died in the crash.
JAPAN
Apr 7, 2023
Search for crew from missing SDF helicopter continues as debris is recovered
The coast guard retrieved 10 pieces of debris, including a lifeboat, but there has been no sign so far of the 10 personnel who were were on board.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Feb 27, 2023
Saga mayor OKs Osprey deployment at city's airport
The Defense Ministry plans to build a new camp spanning about 33 hectares to the west of Saga Airport and station 17 Ospreys there.
JAPAN
Jan 9, 2023
British and Australian units join GSDF paratroopers in training for first time
No troops from foreign countries other than the United States had participated in the training with Japanese units before Sunday's drills.
Japan Times
COMMENTARY / World
Dec 1, 2022
National power underpins defensive capabilities, but defensive force makes a nation
Maintaining or expanding deterrent power is essential to keeping the peace. This means that one must continually prepare for war in order to avoid one.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Crime & Legal
Sep 1, 2022
Thousands back former SDF member demanding sexual assault probe
Rina Gonoi, 22, alleges that she was assaulted by multiple male colleagues while on a training exercise in 2021, a year after she joined the Ground Self-Defense Force.

Longform

Tetsuzo Shiraishi, speaking at The Center of the Tokyo Raids and War Damage, uses a thermos to explain how he experienced the U.S. firebombing of March 1945, when he was just 7 years old.
From ashes to high-rises: A survivor’s account of Tokyo’s postwar past