Studies of the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2022. xvi, 332 pp. (Figures, maps, B&W photos, illustrations.) US$55.00, cloth; US$36.00, ebook. ISBN 9781501764370.
“Does the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF) keep enjoying high public support?” “Does the JSDF still respect the spirit of samurai?” These are common questions by non-Japanese scholars on the JSDF. The current (1947) Constitution and subsequent decades of rejecting militarism discouraged the JSDF from playing crucial combat roles in domestic as well as international defense arenas. Indeed, given the experiences of the Imperial Army and Navy during WWII, there was little room for the JSDF to become a heroic figure for the Japanese public on its (re-)establishment in 1954. The JSDF, a 250,000-strong all-volunteer force, has deployed various missions overseas, including UN Peacekeeping Operations and other international peace support operations such as the one in Iraq. On the other hand, it could hardly be celebrated for its actions of fighting and sacrificing for the protection of the territory.
In Inglorious, Illegal Bastards, Aaron Herald Skabelund helps us to understand the 69-year process of military and societal change through “military-society integration” (5) determined in the Cold War period. Skabelund argues that both Japanese society and the JSDF have tried to adapt to the new environment, which eventually enhances the transformation of the force through officers’ public-relations strategy, liberal democratic values of individual personnel, operational priorities, and traditions of the units.
The author questions how JSDF leaders, officers, and non-commissioned officers shaped military-defense identity during the Cold War, when the central policy was to become “gentlemen quietly dedicated to democracy and public service even as they were subjected to abuse and received little praise” (9) from the general public. The book explains how the JSDF tried to show a new relationship with the imperial military and the US military. JSDF officers during the Cold War learned how to avoid officially invoking the figure and values of the imperial army and navy soldiers, which the war had thoroughly discredited, as a model for defense force personnel to follow. They sometimes used samurai and the way of the warrior (bushido), a code of martial behaviour, as a model, in a careful internal manner, as the shogunate system also symbolized feudal and undemocratic vestiges. Non-emergency public service activities and disaster relief has been a core part of the forces’ esprit de corps to be an “SDF for the people” (256).
The book describes how the JSDF has created a better relationship with postwar Japanese society, coping with widespread anti-militarism and pacifist education. The first chapter examines the re-establishment of a military force by US occupation authorities and the Japanese government as Police Reserve Force from 1950 to 1952. Chapter 2 focuses on the establishment of the National Defense Academy, which educates a new officer corps to lead the postwar force, supported by advice from US military officials. Chapter 3 focuses on the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Northern Corps in Hokkaido, which had great strategic importance during the Cold War years. Chapter 4 focuses on Tokyo during the 1960s when political and force leaders were questioning whether or not to mobilize the SDF to deal with massive anti-Vietnam War and anti-US-Japan Security Treaty sentiment. To this end, chapter 5 describes the JSDF’s strategy in Okinawa when it was returned to Japan in 1972.
In the book’s final act, Skabelund discusses the probability of fundamental change in Japan’s defense policies, including the amendment of the pacifist clauses in the constitution, renouncing war and the threat or use of force as a means of settling international disputes, while the aforementioned clause stipulates that land, sea, and air forces will never be maintained, and renounces the right of state belligerency.
The largest contribution of the book is its recognition of the roles and voices of rank-and-file personnel and cadets. It draws on personal interviews and a variety of sources, including internal force newspapers, which demonstrate the roles played by rank-and-file force members in the creation of the force and its identity. Such work should be particularly celebrated as it is difficult for ordinary scholars to access primary information from the JSDF and the Ministry of Defense of Japan. The JSDF remains extremely hesitant to disclose information to researchers for fear that disclosure could provoke public criticism from journalists, scholars, and anti-military groups. The JSDF fears that heavy criticism could easily ruin its public image. At the same time, the JSDF’s hesitancy to disclose military records and reports has made the public even more skeptical about its mission and constitutional justification.
For members of the JSDF, speaking about political issues in public is taboo, while other political activities besides voting—such as running for office or donating to political parties—are expressly forbidden. The same clause also forbids members from representing political organizations and associations. This situation makes it difficult for academia to gain access to primary sources. As a result, the public is less informed about and less interested in understanding the nature of the problems facing the JSDF. This vicious circle has stunted the development of military sociology and related studies in Japan. The authors’ methodology of collecting oral histories is the best way to unpack and analyze the JSDF identity; however, such methodology requires a superhuman effort to establish a relationship between interviewer and interviewee.
Thankfully, this book provides useful frameworks and suggestions that scholars of military sociology, as well as Japan watchers, can use to fairly evaluate the history of JSDF’s identity building, improving our chances to look at the future security strategy of the government and the forces of a country with such a sensitive post-war public attitude towards combat-related activities.
Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, Kobe