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Over 25 years have passed since the defeat and unconditional surrender of Imperial Japan in August 1945. During the intervening years she has been rebuilt into an economic superpower, but, unlike other superpowers, one rejecting military force as a means of foreign policy. Much of this reluctance to rearm has been based on the ability of Japan to rely on the United States-Japan Security Treaty to deter direct external aggression.

AbstractThe issue of "gender integration" within the military organization has long been a major research topic in military sociology. In the last two decades, however, specific topics such as "gender mainstreaming," "diversity management," and "diversity and inclusion" have pervaded sociological studies on military organizations. In this article, I examine the current state of gender integration in the Japan Self‐Defense Forces (JSDF), focusing on efforts to promote gender mainstreaming. In particular, following the National Action Plan to implement the United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 was formulated in 2015, the Ministry of Defense issued the JSDF Female Personnel Empowerment Initiative in 2017, in which previous challenges for career development of female SDF personnel were to be removed by making virtually all job categories available for women including combat pilot, missile boat crew, and tank driver. While the number and ratio of female personnel have increased and their prospects of career development have substantially improved in the last few years, work–life conflict and sexual/power harassment remain to be challenging issues for the retention of female personnel. Due to the deep‐rooted male‐dominant organizational culture of the military organization, further organizational challenges remain for JSDF to shift its overarching human resource management paradigm from "Diversity 1.0" to "Diversity 2.0," with the strong commitment of top leaders to innovate organizational culture.

"In 1947, Japan eternally renounced war and the possession of armed forces with its constitution. How, then, did the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) survive, moreover, evolve over the ensuing 70 years into the prominent presence it is today? Sado Akihiro reviews the JSDF's history chiefly from the viewpoint of restrictions imposed on it by civil officials of the national beaucracy, based on lessons gleaned from the arbitrary conduct of the military in pre-World War II days. He also explores the financial constraints placed on the JSDF in the form of a percentage of the GNP. This book traces the inside story of U.S.-Japan relations and Japan's defense policy. It attempts to shine a light on the true state of the JSDF in the midst of new challenges that put it at a crossroads, including post-9/11 international terrorism, North Korean nuclear development, and China's increased military presence in Asia"--Back cover

This research report was written as part of an 11-week internship at the Royal Australian Air Force Air Power Development Centre, conducted through the Australian National Internships Program (ANIP) with the Australian National University. Due to proposed amendments to Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution, it is possible that previous restrictions on the employment of Japan's military capabilities may be relaxed. Changes resulting from amendments to Article 9 will potentially open up new opportunities for the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and Japanese Self-Defense Force (JSDF) to work towards greater cooperation and interoperability. This report analyses key areas of opportunity for greater ADF-JSDF engagement after potential changes to Article 9 have been instituted, while also identifying areas of risk that could potentially occur. These predictions for the future of the ADF-JSDF relationship are grounded in analysis of past and current ADF-JSDF engagement, translation of key Japanese defence documents and information gained from interviews conducted with stakeholders in the debate. In this paper, areas of opportunity that have been identified are as follows:  Cooperation during peace-keeping operations (PKOs)  Exercises and training conducted under the auspice of common interests, such as Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) or counter-terrorism  'Marine peacekeeping' with a focus on protection of the Malacca Strait  Bilateral training between the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and the JASDF (Japan Air Self-Defense Force) Further, areas of risk that must be mitigated in order to achieve a closer defence relationship are as follows:  Managing Australia's relationship with both Japan and China, through assuring China that closer Australia-Japan defence ties do not constitute a security alliance  Communication issues and lack of trust during operations  Slow 'flow-on' effect of changes, resulting in predominantly defence-only operations remaining as the bulk of engagement for the foreseeable future The implementation of changes to Article 9 is likely to occur over a long period of time. However, the potential for a rewarding defence relationship between the ADF and JSDF does exist if both countries can move past existing constraints and engage in operational engagement as early as possible.