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This Open Access book describes the history of the relationship between the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF), the heir to the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN), and the United States Navy (US Navy), with a focus on the individuals who helped build it. Former enemies who fought fiercely on the seas and in the air during the Pacific War, the two navies came to respect each other in action. Soon after the war, when the Cold War turned hot, they began to work together as allies, driven by their respective national interests. With the generous assistance of the US Navy, the JMSDF was established as its counterpart. Over the years, these two navies have gradually built strong ties. Individual officers and sailors on both sides overcame mixed feelings about their erstwhile foes to feel respect for and trust in each other. This was made possible by conducting countless joint exercises and operations at sea. US Navy leaders began to realize that this small maritime force, notwithstanding domestic political, constitutional, and legal limitations, does its job well, is reliable, and can be fully trusted. The JMSDF realized that, sharing common interests and values, there was no better navy in the Asia-Pacific region to ally with. Over seventy years of accumulated shared experiences have transformed this into perhaps the most successful navy-to-navy partnership in the world. The US-Japan maritime alliance today is anchored in this history. Numerous admirals, officers, and sailors of the two navies working together have greatly contributed to the stability and prosperity of the Asia-Pacific region for the past seven decades. This book is intended for readers interested in the history of US-Japan relations and for naval officers and sailors from the US and other countries. It is the author's sincere desire that they read this book and appreciate the longstanding cooperation between the JMSDF and the US Navy

In Inglorious, Illegal Bastards, Aaron Herald Skabelund examines how the Self-Defense Force (SDF), the post-World War II Japanese military, and specifically the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), struggled for legitimacy in a society at best indifferent, and often hostile to its very existence. From the early iterations of the GDSF as the Police Reserve Force and the National Safety Force, through its establishment as the largest and most visible branch of the armed forces, the GDSF deployed an array of public outreach and public service initiatives including off-base and on-base events; civil engineering projects; and natural disaster relief operations. Internally, the GDSF focused on indoctrination of its personnel to fashion a reconfigured patriotism and esprit de corps. These efforts to gain legitimacy achieved some success and influenced the public over time. Such military-society integration did not just change society. It also transformed the force itself as it assumed new priorities and traditions, and contributed to the making of a Cold War defense identity, which came to be shared by wider society in Japan. As Inglorious, Illegal Bastards demonstrates, this identity endures today, several decades after the end of the Cold War

Preliminary Material /Elina Hankela -- Introduction -- The NPR in the Literature and Archives -- The JCP and the Domestic Context of the Creation of the NPR: 1945–1950 -- The International Context of the Creation of the NPR: 1945–1950 -- The Organisational Character of the NPR -- The Operational Aspects of the NPR -- The Evolution of the NPR -- Conclusion -- I The 'Constabulary Letter', 2 October 1945 -- II Yoshida to MacArthur, Letter on Police Reform/Recentralisation, 6 August 1949 -- III Macarthur to Yoshida, Letter Authorising the Creation of the npr, 8 July 1950 -- IV Stalin's New Year's Message to the Japanese People, 31 December 1951 -- V Japanese Policy Document: 'Initial Steps for Re-armament Program', 3 February 1951 -- Bibliography -- Index.

"Based on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. It addresses: how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan's anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world's third-largest-economic power's ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan's outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan's lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies."--Back cover.

This book is an insider's account of the problems facing the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), Japan's postwar military, authored by the country's leading submariner, Hideki Nakamura. Specializing in the submarine fleet, he became an ace commander, in addition to serving as an analyst and professor in security studies. During his career, he became increasingly troubled by the SDF's ability to fight due to legal, political, and operational restrictions placed upon it. This book, a translation of his 2017 bestseller, is a must-read for those interested in Japan's military and its ability to partner with other countries.

"This study provides a comprehensive institutional history of Japan's post-1945 army. It also analyzes representations of the military in popular culture, the place of soldiers in the formation of the country's postwar national identity, and the social and political impact of constitutional restrictions on the military."--Provided by publisher