Tag - sdf

 
 

SDF

JAPAN / Politics
Feb 23, 2016
Defense minister stresses civilians still have control over Japanese military
Defense Minister Gen Nakatani on Tuesday downplayed a news report that some senior officers in the Self-Defense Forces are demanding a bigger role than the civilians in drafting the next three-year overall operation plan.
Japan Times
JAPAN / OBITUARY
Dec 29, 2015
Eiji Kimizuka, former GSDF Chief of Staff, dies at 63
Friends of the Ground Self-Defense Force throughout Japan and the world were saddened to learn about the passing of Eiji Kimizuka, a retired four-star general who served as the Chief of Staff of the GSDF from 2011 to 2013 but perhaps was best known for leading the bilateral response to the March 2011...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 20, 2015
Gulf War trauma kicked off Japan's retreat from pacifism in '91
As the first Gulf War raged in February 1991, Ground Self-Defense Force Maj. Nozomu Yoshitomi was supposed to be conducting war games with U.S. officers at a military facility in Tokyo. But the Americans appeared distracted, watching the conflict live on CNN. On another TV, local news showed Japanese...
Japan Times
JAPAN / Politics
Dec 18, 2015
Japanese island defense plan takes shape in bid to turn tables on China
Japan is fortifying its far-flung island chain in the East China Sea under an evolving strategy that aims to turn the tables on China's navy and keep it from ever dominating the Western Pacific Ocean, Japanese military and government sources said.
COMMENTARY / Japan / SENTAKU MAGAZINE
Nov 26, 2015
Japan's crack submarine fleet
The Maritime Self-Defense Force has one of the stealthiest and best-trained submarine fleets in the world.
Japan Times
JAPAN
Nov 6, 2015
Japan weighs course of action in disputed South China Sea
As tension mounts in the South China Sea over the U.S. military's recent patrol challenging China's territorial claims there, speculation has centered on what action Japan may take in the region.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2015
Japanese pacifism is not the moral choice
Only in Japan is unilateral pacifism considered viable, but in a world of new threats a policy of sympathetic indifference is morally questionable.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 30, 2015
Gauging Abe's 'proactive contributions to peace'
While Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has talked a good game about Japan playing a bigger international role, his track record so far shows little has changed.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Oct 16, 2015
Security legislation promises more than it can deliver
Japan's new security legislation will do little to deter China or North Korea, and the SDF is not large or strong enough to turn the tides of war in international peacekeeping and possible U.S.-led war efforts.
COMMUNITY / Voices / VIEWS FROM THE STREET
Oct 14, 2015
Views from Tokyo: Have you felt Japan shifting to the right recently under Abe?
With the media reporting breathlessly that Japan is lurching to the right under the Shinzo Abe government, have people out and about in Tokyo sensed a rightward tilt?
Japan Times
JAPAN
Oct 9, 2015
Self-Defense Forces office slips up with recruiting ad printed on toilet paper
Self-Defense Forces recruiters are now the butt of jokes over a bizarre ad campaign the Defense Ministry apparently saw fit to roll out on toilet paper.
Japan Times
COMMUNITY / Issues
Oct 4, 2015
Japan rightists' patient wait is over as conveyor belt of death shudders back to life
He's done it.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 29, 2015
Tough challenge awaits both ruling and opposition parties
The Liberal Democratic Party badly needs a course correction, but the lack of internal opposition to Shinzo Abe makes this nearly impossible.
COMMENTARY / Japan
Sep 28, 2015
China's Japan-bashing: Is there any hope for goodwill?
As China regularly whips itself up into frenzy over Japan, it is easy to forget that the anti-Japanese sentiment is only a recent phenomenon.
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / BIG IN JAPAN
Sep 26, 2015
Ashes to diamonds and the cost of death
'Where do we go when we die?"
Japan Times
JAPAN / Media / MEDIA MIX
Sep 19, 2015
Money matters when it comes to security
Media coverage of the Liberal Democratic Party's plans to bolster Japan's military position in the world has largely focused on the constitutionality of the two bills that allow the Self-Defense Forces to come to the aid of allies overseas. Those who oppose these bills have used this constitutional question...
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 18, 2015
Main elements of Abe's security legislation
The Upper House is expected to enact laws that could allow Japanese troops to fight overseas for the first time since World War II. Prime Minister Shinzo Abe says the changes are needed to address new challenges, including China's growing military assertiveness. Critics say the laws violate the pacifist...
EDITORIALS
Sep 18, 2015
Security policy set the wrong way
Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has rammed his security legislation through the Diet, public opposition be damned.
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2015
Ruling bloc, three small opposition parties agree on security bills
The ruling bloc and three small opposition parties have basically agreed to have Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's national security bills accompanied by a resolution to ensure a greater role for the Diet in approving Self-Defense Forces dispatches abroad, and to vote on them, according to informed sources....
JAPAN / Politics
Sep 15, 2015
Security bills won't allow for Hormuz minesweeping, Abe says
The administration does not view minesweeping operations in the Strait of Hormuz as one of the possible actions that the Self-Defense Forces would carry out if the national security bills are enacted, according to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Longform

Mount Fuji is considered one of Japan's most iconic symbols and is a major draw for tourists. It's still a mountain, though, and potential hikers need to properly prepare for any climb.
What it takes to save lives on Mount Fuji