Arab News Japan

TOKYO: Prime Minister KISHIDA Fumio, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, delivered an address to the graduates of the National Defense Academy in Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture, on Sunday March 26.

In his address, the prime minister said, “Even in the countries and regions surrounding Japan, efforts to unilaterally change the status quo by enhancing nuclear and missile capabilities, rapidly increasing military armaments, and coercion is becoming noticeable. Today’s Ukraine may be tomorrow’s East Asia.”

 Defense minister HAMADA Yasukazu who also attended the ceremony, spoke to the graduates about the importance of recruiting talented people, both male and female, to play active roles in the service.

He addressed the recent incidents of sexual harassment by stating emphatically that, “harassment shakes the foundation of the Self-Defense Forces, which is a human organization.”

Out of the 446 graduates including 21 international students, 359 men and 41 women were commissioned for official duty and 46 graduates decided to take positions at private companies instead of becoming SDF personnel.

The 21 international graduates came from the Kingdom of Cambodia, Mongolia, the Philippines the Kingdom of Thailand, the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam, the Democratic Republic of Laos, and the Republic of the Union of Myanmar. 

The number of graduates who were commissioned to the SDF, were 179 males and 19 females with the ground self-defense forces, 92 men and 13 women with the maritime self-defense forces, and 88 males and 9 females with the air self-defense forces.

Graduates came from or, entered various fields including the School of Science and Engineering, Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, Special Research, Security and Maritime Safety.

Since 2013, The Ministry of Defense has not allowed those who decline a commission to take part in the graduation ceremony, but this year it allowed graduates not accepting an appointment with the SDF to participate for the first time in 10 years.