Japanese - Goodwill Army
A troupe of modern Japanese warriors about to do battle.
But tonight, words and emotions are their weapons as they prepare to relive the last days of the war.
The play is called ‘Winds of God,’ the English meaning of kamikaze. It’s the story of two knockabout comedians, suddenly transported back 50 years, to their former lives, as kamikaze pilots.
Before turning to the stage, Masayuki Imai himself served in Japan’s Self Defence Forces. An experience which taught him just how unreal an image his civilian compatriots have of things military.
Imai:When you say ‘self defence forces’ people run a mile. Dirty, smell, that kind of image. Even though we in the SDF were putting in our best efforts the public despised us — or at least disregarded us.
Because of the odium of the past, Japan’s armed forces remain strictly for self-defence, though there are signs of a new confidence stirring within the SDF, and a growing public acceptance.
At Gotemba Ground Forces base, near Mt. Fuji, soldiers like Corporal Hiroshi Takahashi reflect the changing mood.
Takahashi:At bottom, there’s a wish to defend your own country by yourself. Even though America and other countries may come to our aid it’s a fundamental thing that I must be able to protect my own homeland.
Corporal Takahashi spent four years laying plumbing in civilian life, before switching to the SDF.
His colleague, Nobuyuki Muramatsu, joined straight from high school.
Muramatsu: I want the SDF to be given due recognition both in the world at home — and for Japan to gain credit from the missions carried out under the name of the Japanese Defence Forces.
Both men are on a 13 month course for promotion to sergeant.
Japan has nearly a quarter of a million people in uniform, all of them volunteers.
While that’s not a large enlistment, relative to population, the nation’s defence budget of $70 billion, ranks among the world’s biggest.
Two-thirds are spent on wages and benefits., one-third on hardware.
Today’s training is to develop the skills of squad leader, and for this run, Corporal Takahashi is in command.
PTC: The enemy is up ahead about 500 metres in well-hidden positions, and this squad is making a full front assault.
It’s the kind of combat exercise the Japanese army has taken pride in for centuries, because of its directness of approach, its capacity to terrify the enemy, and its requirement of the highest level of bravery.
The precision movement and seriousness of purpose are impressive.
They haven’t fired a shot in anger for half a century, but for these soldiers, Japanese bushido — the way of the warrior — is not a lost ideal.
Reporter: When you were growing up, who were your military heroes?
Takahashi: In the American program ‘Combat’ Sergeant Sanders really appealed to me.
Reporter: Is the spirit of bushido still alive in the modern Japanese military?
Takahashi: I think it is.
Reporter: So what does this mean for you?
Takahashi: Bushido for me is to accomplish the mission you are given — that determination
Reporter: But would that ever again amount to the never surrender fanaticism of the kamikaze?
Muramatsu: If I was asked now to do that to tell you the truth, perhaps I couldn’t. But should a time come when I have to protect myself and there is someone waiting for me I would fight to the end and come back alive. I’d keep that in mind, and fight.
An answer a bit like the field rations these days — rice and hamburger — take your pick.
No longer do Japanese women stay at home and leave the soldiering all to the men.
Hanawa: The Australian Army might copy this, you never know. So everyone be serious, but relax.
Takako Hanawa is 21 — three years in the army, and training as an NCO.
She’s one of nine thousand women in the Self Defence Force.
Hanawa: I thought that the SDF was a place of many possibilities for me. Because the range of work is very wide I can choose what suits me as I go along. That’s why I joined.
Reporter: What do your friends say about it?
Hanawa: They ask me “Are you really in there? What are you doing? Do you always carry a gun?” But I tell them I work at a place that’s not all that different from others.
Instructor: Firing training. Five bullets in twenty-seven seconds.
Tomorrow they go to the range for assessment, but today they have to provide their own sound effects.
Reporter: Do you think you’ll ever have to use that weapon in actual combat?
Instructor: Yes.
Reporter: But would you be able to?
Instructor: To tell you the truth, I’m not sure.
While still few in number, these female SDF members play a vital role in selling a fresh image of the military to the Japanese public.
An army as cute and easy-going as this can’t be half bad.
The marketing campaign is taken to extraordinary lengths.
Meet the SDF’s official mascots — Prince Pickles and Miss Parsley.
Enjoy their comic adventures, in which absolutely nobody gets hurt.
For maturer tastes, there’s ‘SDF Ladies’, a hot-selling magazine which got Defence Agency approval after the publisher dropped the idea of having them pose in the nude.
Hanawa: When people look from outside and see women involved I think they get a truer, that is, a softer impression — because if it were only men it would look hard and coarse.
Heaven forbid anyone should think life in the military is hard and coarse.
But one episode recently did more than all the publicity hype to gain the SDF new respect — the relief work they performed in earthquake devastated Kobe.
Their initial slow response, now blamed on politicians, after Kobe a law was passed allowing the military to attend future disasters without having to wait for a civilian request.
Rebuilding trust at home, and also overseas.
These cadets at the School of Engineers are learning skills they may later have to apply, far from home, during United Nations Peace Keeping operations.
PTC: This is the kind of military force that Japan wants to share with the world again. An army of bridge builders, road engineers, medicos and communications experts. A high tech, low threat army. A kind of jungle green version of the Japanese construction industry.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hirofumi Yusa is part of the PKO battalion
Japan sent to Cambodia three years ago.
As good in that job, presumably, as he is now in public relations.
Yusa: Ground Self Defence Force is not ancient army. You know?
Reporter: You’re a new army?
Yusa: We are a new defence force, Self Defence Force.
To preserve that limited role, Japanese troops serving with the UN carry no offensive weapons — indeed have to be guarded by the soldiers of other nations.
Displayed here are the momentos received by those who took part in the PKO UNTAC mission.
As well as Cambodia, the SDF have worn the UN’s blue beret in Mozambique and Rwanda, and they may soon be heading off to the Golan Heights.
In this PKO hall of honour, recently returned veterans proudly show off their service ribbons.
Soldier:This is for taking part in the UN operation in Mozambique.
Reporter: Did you feel you were in danger at any time?
Soldier: Somebody told me they heard gunfire one night but I actually didn’t feel in any danger.
The souvenirs of the SDF’s good deeds abroad are collected with typical Japanese thoroughness, right down to a couple of airline seats.
The days of soldiering without a mission are over. Military lines of engagement cross the globe.
While they put on a good show, it remains the case that Japan’s military have neither the firepower nor the mandate for any dramatic new projection of power outside these shores.
Some even doubt their capacity to defend their own country were the United States to remove its military presence here, particularly the nuclear umbrella. But neither is that in prospect.
Somewhere under all this humanity are weapons of mass destruction. The children can play because nobody imagines these things will ever have to be used.
Yet, on this 50th anniversary of defeat, I do detect a subtle, but important, change of mood. Both at a political and a public level, the Self Defence Forces have finally obtained legitimacy.
Interest in joining up is increasing, partly because jobs are getting scarce in a stagnant economy, partly because the allure of powerful machines is unspoilt for this generation by the sufferings of war.
Patriotism is not quite the dirty word it was. And whether through plays or opens days, it’s implications are being explored again.
At the end of their day charging up and down a hill, Corporals Takahashi and Muramatsu work at cleaning off some of the grime. It is, after all, a dirty job.
Finally, what do these modern day ‘Soldiers of the Sun’ say to those who fear the possibility of a resurgent Japan?
Muramatsu: We are the ones among our generation who have the strongest fear of war and sense of its reality. We are the ones who would oppose any build-up of war.
Takahashi: Compared with the old militaristic days the SDF is much more democratic. Each individual member’s opinion is respected. I think that is the difference.
There are those, both in Japan and among its neighbours, who wonder how long this restraint will last.
However, while peace permits, it seems we may rest easy that, for these armed forces, the safety catch is still switched on.
A troupe of modern Japanese warriors about to do battle.
But tonight, words and emotions are their weapons as they prepare to relive the last days of the war.
The play is called ‘Winds of God,’ the English meaning of kamikaze. It’s the story of two knockabout comedians, suddenly transported back 50 years, to their former lives, as kamikaze pilots.
Before turning to the stage, Masayuki Imai himself served in Japan’s Self Defence Forces. An experience which taught him just how unreal an image his civilian compatriots have of things military.
Imai:When you say ‘self defence forces’ people run a mile. Dirty, smell, that kind of image. Even though we in the SDF were putting in our best efforts the public despised us — or at least disregarded us.
Because of the odium of the past, Japan’s armed forces remain strictly for self-defence, though there are signs of a new confidence stirring within the SDF, and a growing public acceptance.
At Gotemba Ground Forces base, near Mt. Fuji, soldiers like Corporal Hiroshi Takahashi reflect the changing mood.
Takahashi:At bottom, there’s a wish to defend your own country by yourself. Even though America and other countries may come to our aid it’s a fundamental thing that I must be able to protect my own homeland.
Corporal Takahashi spent four years laying plumbing in civilian life, before switching to the SDF.
His colleague, Nobuyuki Muramatsu, joined straight from high school.
Muramatsu: I want the SDF to be given due recognition both in the world at home — and for Japan to gain credit from the missions carried out under the name of the Japanese Defence Forces.
Both men are on a 13 month course for promotion to sergeant.
Japan has nearly a quarter of a million people in uniform, all of them volunteers.
While that’s not a large enlistment, relative to population, the nation’s defence budget of $70 billion, ranks among the world’s biggest.
Two-thirds are spent on wages and benefits., one-third on hardware.
Today’s training is to develop the skills of squad leader, and for this run, Corporal Takahashi is in command.
PTC: The enemy is up ahead about 500 metres in well-hidden positions, and this squad is making a full front assault.
It’s the kind of combat exercise the Japanese army has taken pride in for centuries, because of its directness of approach, its capacity to terrify the enemy, and its requirement of the highest level of bravery.
The precision movement and seriousness of purpose are impressive.
They haven’t fired a shot in anger for half a century, but for these soldiers, Japanese bushido — the way of the warrior — is not a lost ideal.
Reporter: When you were growing up, who were your military heroes?
Takahashi: In the American program ‘Combat’ Sergeant Sanders really appealed to me.
Reporter: Is the spirit of bushido still alive in the modern Japanese military?
Takahashi: I think it is.
Reporter: So what does this mean for you?
Takahashi: Bushido for me is to accomplish the mission you are given — that determination
Reporter: But would that ever again amount to the never surrender fanaticism of the kamikaze?
Muramatsu: If I was asked now to do that to tell you the truth, perhaps I couldn’t. But should a time come when I have to protect myself and there is someone waiting for me I would fight to the end and come back alive. I’d keep that in mind, and fight.
An answer a bit like the field rations these days — rice and hamburger — take your pick.
No longer do Japanese women stay at home and leave the soldiering all to the men.
Hanawa: The Australian Army might copy this, you never know. So everyone be serious, but relax.
Takako Hanawa is 21 — three years in the army, and training as an NCO.
She’s one of nine thousand women in the Self Defence Force.
Hanawa: I thought that the SDF was a place of many possibilities for me. Because the range of work is very wide I can choose what suits me as I go along. That’s why I joined.
Reporter: What do your friends say about it?
Hanawa: They ask me “Are you really in there? What are you doing? Do you always carry a gun?” But I tell them I work at a place that’s not all that different from others.
Instructor: Firing training. Five bullets in twenty-seven seconds.
Tomorrow they go to the range for assessment, but today they have to provide their own sound effects.
Reporter: Do you think you’ll ever have to use that weapon in actual combat?
Instructor: Yes.
Reporter: But would you be able to?
Instructor: To tell you the truth, I’m not sure.
While still few in number, these female SDF members play a vital role in selling a fresh image of the military to the Japanese public.
An army as cute and easy-going as this can’t be half bad.
The marketing campaign is taken to extraordinary lengths.
Meet the SDF’s official mascots — Prince Pickles and Miss Parsley.
Enjoy their comic adventures, in which absolutely nobody gets hurt.
For maturer tastes, there’s ‘SDF Ladies’, a hot-selling magazine which got Defence Agency approval after the publisher dropped the idea of having them pose in the nude.
Hanawa: When people look from outside and see women involved I think they get a truer, that is, a softer impression — because if it were only men it would look hard and coarse.
Heaven forbid anyone should think life in the military is hard and coarse.
But one episode recently did more than all the publicity hype to gain the SDF new respect — the relief work they performed in earthquake devastated Kobe.
Their initial slow response, now blamed on politicians, after Kobe a law was passed allowing the military to attend future disasters without having to wait for a civilian request.
Rebuilding trust at home, and also overseas.
These cadets at the School of Engineers are learning skills they may later have to apply, far from home, during United Nations Peace Keeping operations.
PTC: This is the kind of military force that Japan wants to share with the world again. An army of bridge builders, road engineers, medicos and communications experts. A high tech, low threat army. A kind of jungle green version of the Japanese construction industry.
Lieutenant-Colonel Hirofumi Yusa is part of the PKO battalion
Japan sent to Cambodia three years ago.
As good in that job, presumably, as he is now in public relations.
Yusa: Ground Self Defence Force is not ancient army. You know?
Reporter: You’re a new army?
Yusa: We are a new defence force, Self Defence Force.
To preserve that limited role, Japanese troops serving with the UN carry no offensive weapons — indeed have to be guarded by the soldiers of other nations.
Displayed here are the momentos received by those who took part in the PKO UNTAC mission.
As well as Cambodia, the SDF have worn the UN’s blue beret in Mozambique and Rwanda, and they may soon be heading off to the Golan Heights.
In this PKO hall of honour, recently returned veterans proudly show off their service ribbons.
Soldier:This is for taking part in the UN operation in Mozambique.
Reporter: Did you feel you were in danger at any time?
Soldier: Somebody told me they heard gunfire one night but I actually didn’t feel in any danger.
The souvenirs of the SDF’s good deeds abroad are collected with typical Japanese thoroughness, right down to a couple of airline seats.
The days of soldiering without a mission are over. Military lines of engagement cross the globe.
While they put on a good show, it remains the case that Japan’s military have neither the firepower nor the mandate for any dramatic new projection of power outside these shores.
Some even doubt their capacity to defend their own country were the United States to remove its military presence here, particularly the nuclear umbrella. But neither is that in prospect.
Somewhere under all this humanity are weapons of mass destruction. The children can play because nobody imagines these things will ever have to be used.
Yet, on this 50th anniversary of defeat, I do detect a subtle, but important, change of mood. Both at a political and a public level, the Self Defence Forces have finally obtained legitimacy.
Interest in joining up is increasing, partly because jobs are getting scarce in a stagnant economy, partly because the allure of powerful machines is unspoilt for this generation by the sufferings of war.
Patriotism is not quite the dirty word it was. And whether through plays or opens days, it’s implications are being explored again.
At the end of their day charging up and down a hill, Corporals Takahashi and Muramatsu work at cleaning off some of the grime. It is, after all, a dirty job.
Finally, what do these modern day ‘Soldiers of the Sun’ say to those who fear the possibility of a resurgent Japan?
Muramatsu: We are the ones among our generation who have the strongest fear of war and sense of its reality. We are the ones who would oppose any build-up of war.
Takahashi: Compared with the old militaristic days the SDF is much more democratic. Each individual member’s opinion is respected. I think that is the difference.
There are those, both in Japan and among its neighbours, who wonder how long this restraint will last.
However, while peace permits, it seems we may rest easy that, for these armed forces, the safety catch is still switched on.