A `Dynamic Joint Defense Force`? An Introduction to Japanese

A `Dynamic Joint Defense Force`? An Introduction to Japanese

The Asia-Pacific Journal: Japan Focus
In-depth critical analysis of the forces shaping the Asia-Pacific...and the world.
A “Dynamic Joint Defense Force”? An Introduction to Japanese
Strategic Thinking 「 ダ イ ナ ミ ッ ク な 共 同 防 衛 隊 」 ?日
日本の戦略思考入門
Mar. 18, 2014
Sa bi ne Frhst ck
The Japan G ro und Self-D efens e Fo rce public relatio ns channel ( https : //www.yo utube.co m/us er/JG SD Fchannel; fo r the Englis h vers io n:
https : //www.yo utube.co m/watch? v=2tT6 3npchUM) recently anno unced in an illus trated video s ho wing the G SD F in actio n that, acco rding
to the new National Defense Program Guidelines for FY 2014 and Beyond, Japan is building a “D ynamic Jo int D efens e Fo rce.” As s uch the SD F
will emphas iz e “readines s , s us tainability, res ilience and co nnectivity in its s o ftware and hardware, s uppo rted by advanced techno lo gy
and C3I ( Co mmand, Co ntro l, Co mmunicatio ns and Intelligence) capabilities , als o laying a wide range o f fo undatio ns fo r JSD F’s
o peratio ns .” The grand and s tylis h 15-minute film is perhaps the mo s t co mbative piece o f public relatio ns is s ued by the SD F thus far.
There is talk o f a “to ugh & res ilient Japan G ro und Self-D efens e Fo rce” and “effective deterrence and res po ns e” capabilities . The SD F do
no t jus t appear perfectly aligned with the USFJ. The USFJ lo o k as if they were but o ne branch o f the Japanes e armed fo rces .
To my kno wledge, never befo re has the SD F public relatio ns apparatus o fficially dared to ado pt the hawkis h rheto ric o f beco ming “mo re
battle o riented,” s peaking o f “co mbat vehicles ” that are needed fo r “o ptimiz ing the fo rce s tructure fro m an o peratio nal po int o f view,” o r
the eventuality o f res po nding “to attacks o n remo te is lands .” The s mo o th aes thetic, mus ically dramatiz ed and enhanced with defens e
rheto ric mo re s imilar to American military public relatio ns effo rts than anything I have s een befo re in Japan, is a clear departure fro m
earlier, mo re amateuris h attempts to familiariz e a bro ad audience with the Self-D efens e Fo rces ’ mis s io n and s tyle.
Yet, there are familiar mes s ages o f dis as ter relief, peace-keeping and peace-building as well and it is impo rtant to no te that the SelfD efens e Fo rces ’ range o f public relatio ns techniques and s trategies have been mo re varied than tho s e o f many o ther military
es tablis hments , s o metimes to the po int o f co nveying rather co ntradicto ry mes s ages . Furthermo re, s tyle and rheto ric have s ignificantly
evo lved s ince the end o f the co ld war. Numero us po litical, techno lo gical and s o cial facto rs co ntributed to this change. Internatio nally,
Japan drew criticis m, even s co rn, particularly fro m the United States , fo r its primarily mo netary co ntributio n to the G ulf War ( 19 9 0 –
19 9 1) . D o mes tically, the United Natio ns Peacekeeping O peratio ns Bill was pas s ed in the Japanes e D iet amids t s ubs tantial pro tes ts as
it es tablis hed the legal gro unds fo r Japan’s firs t peacekeeping mis s io n in Cambo dia that s ame year. Many s imilar peacekeeping
mis s io ns fo llo wed. To gether with the firs t internatio nal dis as ter relief mis s io n to Ho nduras in 19 9 8 , the 19 9 0 s marked a clear
departure fro m the s co pe o f previo us o peratio ns . Until then, the Self-D efens e Fo rces had been primarily deplo yed fo r do mes tic
co mmunity and dis as ter relief mis s io ns .
D es pite all tho s e experiences , the SD F were deemed inept and unprepared when the then s eco nd-bigges t earthquake in Japan’s mo dern
his to ry hit the Ko be area in 19 9 5. They wo uld o nly reco ver fro m that natural dis as ter’s public relatio ns debacle much later, namely in the
aftermath o f the mas s ive triple dis as ter – earthquake, ts unami and nuclear meltdo wn – that s truck no rtheas tern Japan o n March 11,
20 11. The majo rity o f the Japanes e po pulatio n had o ppo s ed the deplo yment o f s ervice members to Iraq. Yet, it was the State Secrecy
Law o f D ecember 20 13, put into place by Prime Minis ter Abe Shinz  in the wake o f America’s “glo bal war o n terro r,” that drew the mo s t
mas s ive pro tes ts as many feared no t o nly res trictio ns o n freedo m o f s peech but an end to civilian co ntro l o ver the military and matters
o f s ecurity. Thes e, to gether with gro wing China-Japan territo rial and o ther co nflicts , have s purned a rheto ric o f “ever mo re s evere” and
“ever mo re co mplicated” s ecurity co ncerns fo r Japan. Acco rdingly, s o me o f the recent public relatio ns pro jects have s hifted to
inco rpo rate the language o f cris is and urgency and thus appear alarmingly in line with the 20 13 State Secrecy Act that empo wers the
Minis ter o f D efens e to des ignate info rmatio n he determines to be “es pecially neces s ary to be made s ecret fo r Japan’s defens e” ( s ee
http: //japanfo cus .o rg/-Lawrence-Repeta/40 11) .
In additio n to thes e po litical events , the multi-layered mechanis ms o f engaging new electro nic and digital techno lo gies s uch as tho s e
us ed in the film furthered the military’s tighter embrace o f the aes thetics o f the entertainment and media wo rld. Even ten years ago , the
defens e minis try’s and SD F branch webs ites lo o ked dull and bureaucratic. No w, they o ffer video clips and games , individual s ervice
members ’ acco unts o f their mo tivatio ns and experiences , and o ther dynamic materials in additio n to data abo ut capabilities and
mis s io ns .
The military public relatio ns apparatus is no w appealing to a yo uthful audience that is largely clueles s abo ut the circums tances o f the
Co ns titutio n’s Article 9 and the U.S.-Japan alliance. Many in the yo ung generatio n tend to s ee the firs t as o utdated and the s eco nd as fait
accompli and unpro blematic.
To day, SD F pres entatio ns range fro m pro fes s io nally s ho t defens e minis try-s po ns o red interviews with s ervice members to s taged
enco unters o f yo ung s ervice members with equally yo ung fello w citiz ens who appear utterly igno rant o f the SD F and matters o f defens e
mo re
generally https : //www.yo utube.co m/watch? v=Cah5SYG q9 U8 , https : //www.yo utube.co m/watch? v=X-Wt3Nl-Hvo )
to
cheerful
mes s ages and imagery that defy the vis io n o f the SD F’s future laid o ut in the National Defense Program Guidelines for FY 2014. They include
fas t-paced weapo ns s ys tems flas hing acro s s o ne’s s creen. O ne 20 13 highlight was the firs t publically advertis ed Mr. and Ms . Maritime
Self-D efens e Fo rce co ntes t s ho wing each co ntes tant in his fas t-paced o ften high tech wo rk o n land, s ea and in the air as the beat go es
o n ( https : //www.yo utube.co m/watch? v=-SUEVf6 I-NA) . Ano ther was the almo s t s eamles s merging o f military and po pular cultural takes
pro mis ed recruits that o nce in the SD F, they wo uld co me to “lo ve thems elves ” by virtue o f “making peace [their] bus ines s ” ( fig. 2) .
Fig. 1: The new Self-D efens e Fo rces public relatio ns line o f 20 14, “Believe yo ur heart.” So urce: G SD F webpage o f the Minis try o f
D efens e. The video clip with the s ame “Believe yo ur heart” rheto ric and aes thetic can be fo und here: http: //www.yo utube.co m/watch?
v=X-Wt3Nl-HVo ( Sakura Channel, 8 /12/20 14) .
Fig. 2: Mo re recruitment material fo llo wing the 20 11 triple dis as ter in no rtheas tern Japan pro mis es that o nce in the Self-D efens e
Fo rces , a s ervice member wo uld s urely “lo ve o nes elf,” due to the fact that they “make peace their bus ines s .”
Yet even in the anno uncement pro claiming the newly dynamic jo int SD F, military narratives s pread thro ugh defens e minis try and SD F
branch s ites remain cleans ed o f info rmatio n o n po tential o r actual military mis s io ns and the death and des tructio n that fo llo w in their
wake. Ins tead, they are s aid to exis t “fo r further co ntributio n to wo rld peace” ( http: //www.mo d.go .jp/e/) . Many s uch textual and vis ual
narratives effo rtles s ly and s eamles s ly blend with and actively emplo y an expanding military po pular culture who s e key characters are
gendered female, co ded childlike and unapo lo getically s exualiz ed ( fig. 3) .
Fig. 3: O fficial 20 0 5 defens e white paper.
Japan’s 20 0 5 defens e white paper as manga, fo r ins tance, was enlivened with a Lo lita-type girl figure and her lo veable bear. Similarly, as
part o f an air s ho w in Chiba prefecture in O cto ber 20 12, a co lo rfully deco rated new anti-tank helico pter who s e primary capability, let’s
no t fo rget, lies in blo wing up tanks , and a red-haired female in G SD F unifo rm by the name o f Kis araz u Akane, s to le the s ho w ( fig. 4) .
Fig.
4:
So urce: http: //en.ro cketnews 24.co m/20 12/10 /19 /japans -armed-fo rces -s ho w-their-playful-s ide-mo e-s tyle-attack-helico pterwo ws -cro wds /
Mixed mes s ages fo r s ure. And why s ho uld they no t be s o ? After all, the SD F engages in a who le range o f mis s io ns and addres s es a
great variety o f do mes tic and internatio nal audiences . In light o f Abe’s natio nalis t appeals and calls fo r co ns titutio nal revis io n, ChinaJapan tens io ns , and the po litics o f fear regarding a dynamic and po tentially expans ive China, s o me amo ng thes e audiences will s urely
end up blinds ided.
Sa bi ne Frhst ck is Pro fes s o r o f Mo dern Japanes e Cultural Studies at the Univers ity o f Califo rnia at Santa Barbara and a Japan Fo cus
as s o ciate. She is interes ted in pro blems o f po wer/kno wledge, gender/s exuality, and military/s o ciety. She is the autho r o f Uneasy
Warriors: Gender, Memory and Popular Culture in the Japanese Army, publis hed in Japanes e trans latio n as Fuan na heishitachi and Co lo niz ing
Sex: Sexo lo gy and So cial Co ntro l in Mo dern Japan. She is the co autho r with Anne Walthall o f Recreating Japanese Men.
http: //www.eas tas ian.ucs b.edu/ho me/faculty/s abine-fruhs tuck/
Re l a t e d a rt i cl e s
• Fumika Sato , A Camo uflaged Military: Japan’s Self-D efens e Fo rces and G lo baliz ed G ender Mains treaming http: //japanfo cus .o rg/Fumika-Sato /38 20
• Sabine Frhs tck, AMPO in Cris is ? US Military's Manga O ffers Upbeat Take o n US-Japan Relatio ns http: //japanfo cus .o rg/-SabineFruhs tuck/3442
• Sabine Frhs tck, “To Pro tect Japan’s Peace We Need G uns and Ro ckets : ” The Military Us es o f Po pular Culture in Current-day Japan
http: //japanfo cus .o rg/-Sabine-Fruhs tuck/320 9
• To mo mi YAMAG UCHI and No rma Field, G endered Labo r Jus tice and the Law o f Peace: Nakajima Michiko and the 15-Wo man Laws uit
O ppo s ing D is patch o f Japanes e Self-D efens e Fo rces to Iraq http: //japanfo cus .o rg/-T-Yamaguchi/2551
• D avid McNeill, In the Shado w o f Hiro s hima. U.S. Marines and Japanes e SD F co llabo rate at Iwakuni s ix decades after the bo mb
http: //japanfo cus .o rg/-D avid-McNeill/239 0
Cre a te d by Da ta mo me ntum