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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
This paper examines the history of women in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. I focus on policy makers’ reasons for introducing women into the SDF, reasons that have nothing to do with gender equality. I apply a framework of “camouflaging” in my discussion of these reasons.
本稿は、日本の自衛隊における女性の歴史を検証するものである。自衛隊の政策決定者たちは女性たちをなぜ自衛隊にとりこんできたのか。本稿では「カモフラージュ」という分析枠組みを用いることで、女性自衛官を包摂してきた理由がジェンダー平等とは無関係なものであったことを示す。
1 Carreiras, Helena, 2006, Gender and the Military: Women in the Armed Forces of Western Democracies, London: Routledge, p.117, emphasis in the original.
2 See for example, Gutmann, Stephanie, 2000, The Kinder, Gentler Military: Can America's Gender-Neutral Fighting Force Still Win Wars?, New York: Scribner.
3 Chapman, Anne W., 2008, Mixed-Gender Basic Training: The U.S. Army Experience, 1973-2004, Washington, DC： U.S. Government Printing Office, p.169.
4 Stachowitsch, Saskia, 2011, Gender Ideologies and Military Labor Markets in the US, New York: Routledge, p.130.
5 Sasson-Levy, Orna, 2011, “The Military in a Globalized Environment: Perpetuating an ‘Extremely Gendered1 Organization,” Handbook of Gender, Work and Organization, Jeanes, Emma L., David Knights and Patricia Yancey Martin eds., Chichester : Wiley, 391-410, p.392
6 Stachowitsch, 2011, p.127.
7 See, for example, Chapman, 2008, p.169.
8 Enloe, Cynthia, 1983, Does Khaki Become You?: The Militarisation of Women's Lives, London: Pluto Press, p.10.
9 Enloe, 1983, p.11-12.
10 D'amico, Francine and Laurie Weinstein eds., 1999, Gender Camouflage: Women and the U.S. Military, New York: New York University Press, p.5.
11 D'amico and Weinstein eds., 1999, p.4.
12 Takahashi Saburo, 1974, “War Studies and Military Studies： Prospects and Issues of Military Sociology (戦争研究と軍隊研究ーミリ タリー·ソシオロジーの展望と課題），” Thought, Tokyo: Iwanami, 605: 1483-1504, p.1504.
13 Yoshida Yutaka, 2002, “War and the Military：
Current Studies of Japanese Modern Military History (戦争と軍隊一日本軍事史研究の現 在），” Historical Review (Tokyo: Koso Shobo, 630： 40-51.
14 Tanaka Masakazu ed., 2004, Journal of Humanities, 90 Kyoto: The Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University.
15 Kawano Hitoshi, 2004, “Sociology of Peacekeeping Operations of the Japanese SelfDefense Forces: Future of Expansion of International Operations and Stress Caused by Dispatch (自衛隊PKOの社会学一国際貢献任務 拡大のゆくえと派遣ストレス），” “War〃 in Postwar Japan (戦後日本のなかの「戦争」）, Nakai Hisao ed., Tokyo: Sekai Shiso Sha, 213-25.
16 Frühstück, Sabine, 2007, Uneasy Warriors: Gender, Memory, and Popular Culture in the Japanese Army, Berkeley: University of California Press. Her work was translated into Japanese and published by Hara Shobo in 2008.
17 Sasaki Tomoyuki, 2009, An Army for the People: The Self-Defense Forces and Society in Postwar Japan, Michigan: UMI. Dissertation Publishing.
18 Mikanagi Yumiko, 2011, Masculinity and Japan's Foreign Relations, Colorado: First Forum Press.
19 See Sato Fumika, 2004, Gender and the Military: Women in the Japanese Self-Defense Forces (軍事組織とジェンダーー自衛隊の女性 たち）, Tokyo: Keio University Press； Sato Fumika, 2010, “Why Have the Japanese SelfDefense Forces Included Women?: The Statens ‘Nonfeminist Reasons’,” Militarized Currents: Toward a Decolonized Future in Asia and the Pacific； Shigematsu Setsu and Keith L. Camacho eds., Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 251-276; Sato Fumika, 2010, “Gendered ‘Postmodern Militaries’: Utilizing Discourses of Masculinities and Femininities for ‘New’ Militaries (ジェンダー化される「ポス
トモダンの軍隊」 一「新しさ」をめぐり動員さ れる女性性/男性性），” Gender and Society: History of Masculinities, Military and Sexuality (ジェンダーと社会一男性史•軍隊·セクシュア グナィ)；and Kimoto Kimiko and Kido Yoshiyuki eds., Tokyo: Junposha, 141-169.
20 Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, 2011, 2011 Yearbook, Oxford: Oxford University Press. Available here.
21 The Ministry of Defense, 2011, Defense of Japan 2011 (日本の防衛平成23年度版), Tokyo: Boeisho, p.518.
22 The Ministry of Defense has announced that it will introduce the latest F-35 jet fighters. See Asahi Shimbun (朝日新聞）, December 20, 2011, evening edition.
23 Since the Korean War, Japan has actively supported every U.S. war, diplomatically, politically, economically, and as a rear area. However before the 1990s, Japanese government carefully refrained from dispatching the SDF overseas.
24 Article Nine states: “Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes. In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph, land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state will not be recognized.”
25 See Carreiras, 2006. She studied integration patterns of military women in NATO countries and recognized four patterns.(1)the “EuroAtlantic model” where countries not only have higher levels of inclusiveness but also have the highest numerical representation; (2) the “Scandinavian model” where countries score high in inclusiveness with more limited quantitative representation; (3) the “South European model” where countries have medium to low scores on inclusiveness with significant representation levels; and (4) “Mixed territorial model” where countries score the lowest in levels of inclusiveness and percentage of women in the military. In my previous research, I applied Carreiras’ index of gender inclusiveness and discovered that Japan belonged to the last group. See Sato, 2010. Data on women in the military are given by Seager, Joni, 2009, The Penguin Atlas of Women in the World, 4th ed., New York: Penguin Books, pp.102-103.
26 United Nations, 1997, Report of the Economic and Social Council for 1997, A/52/3, September 18, 1997.
27 SDF members are divided into four categories; officers (kanbu), warrant officers (jun-i), non-commissioned officers (sou), and soldiers (shi). Soldiers (shi) are further divided into two categories based on their contract. Non-limited term of contract (ninki-sei) refers to career or lifetime employment. For limited term contract (hi-ninki-sei), the first term is two years for GSDF soldiers and three years for MSDF and ASDF soldiers. Contracts may be renewed after two years. However, those who are not promoted to noncommissioned officer (sou) within about ten years are discharged.
28 The Defense Agency, 1961, Publication to Commemorate the Tenth Year of Japanese SelfDefense Forces (自衛隊十年史）, Tokyo: Boeicho, p.19.
29 Segal, Mady Wechsler, 1995, “Women's Military Roles Cross-Nationally: Past, Present, and Future,” Gender & Society, 9(6): 757-775, p.767
30 Segal, 1995, p.767.
31 Asahi shimbun (朝日新聞）, November 19, 1952, evening edition and November 22, 1952, morning edition.
32 Japanese Congressional Record, 13th House of Councilors, 40th Cabinet Committee (第13回 参議院内闍委員会40号),June 11, 1952.
33 The Defense Agency, 1961, p.247.
34 An estimated 50,000 plus Japanese nurses served in the military during World War II. However they were civilian employees of the military. See Naito Hisako, 2005, “War and Nurses: Phase of War Nurses (戦争と看護一従 軍看護婦の位相），” Women of the Nation at War (軍国の女たち）,Hayakawa Noriyo ed., Tokyo： Yoshikawa Kobundo, 52-74, p.70.
35 Center of Excellence Oral Policy Research Project, 2001, Oral History of Kaihara Osamu, volume one (海原治オーラルヒストリー上巻）, Tokyo: Seisaku Kenkyu Daigakuin Daigaku, pp.258-259, translated and discussed by the author.
36 Center of Excellence Oral Policy Research Project, p.259.
37 Sasson-Levy, 2011, p.394.
38 Sasson-Levy, 2011, pp.398-99.
39 Center of Excellence Oral Policy Research Project, 2001, p.259.
40 Kaihara used the expression “brainwash” to describe how this U.S.-based Japanese official persuaded his visiting colleague to make greater use of women inside the SDF. See Center of Excellence Oral Policy Research Project, 2001, p.259.
41 “Foreign Officers Trained at U.S. WAC School,” material in the possession of the U.S. Womens Army Memorial at Fort Lee. Thanks are due to Françoise B. Bonnell, Director of the museum, and Amanda Jean Strickland, Archivist of the museum, for their assistance in collecting the materials.
42 Photo in the possession of the U.S. Women's Army Memorial, Fort Lee.
43 See note 41.
44 “Proposed Remarks for the Commandant on Foreign Student's Holiday,1 November 1967,” material in the possession of the U.S. Women's Army Memorial in Fort Lee.
45 New York Times, April17, 1942, p.8.
46 Meyer, Leisa D.,1992, “Creating G.I. Jane: The Regulation of Sexuality and Sexual Behavior in the Women's Army Corps during World War II,” Feminist Studies, 18(3): 581-601, p.585.
47 The GSDF WAC Training Unit, 1998, Publication to Commemorate the Thirtieth Year (30周年記念 Tokyo: Rikujo Jieitai Fujin Jieikan Kyoikutai, p.13.
48 Interview with author, October 29, 1999 in Tokyo.
49 The GSDF WAC Training Unit, 1998, The Institution of WAC and What Our Training Unit Should Be (婦人自衛官の制度及び教育隊のある べき姿）, p.106.
50 Frühstück, Sabine, 2010, “AMPO in Crisis? US Military's Manga Offers Upbeat Take on US-Japan Relations,” The Asia-Pacific Journal, New York: Japan Focus, 45-3-10.
51 The Defense Agency, 1970, Defense of Japan 1970 (日本の防衛昭和45年度版），Tokyo·· Boeicho, p.55.
52 The change under Nakasone is discussed by Sasaki, 2009, pp.185-188.
53 See Defense of Japan 1987 (日本の防衛昭 和62年度版）,p.161 and Defense of Japan 1992
(日本の防衛平成4年度版), p.324.
54 Sasson-Levy, 2011, p.396.
55 Segal, 1995, p.769.
56 According to a civilian official, as a result of this SDF “reform,” the percentage of SDF jobs open to women increased to 75 percent from 39 percent. However, statistical data on the actual expansion of SDF women is unavailable. See the Japanese Congressional Record, 107th House of Representatives, 4th Cabinet Committee (第107回衆議院内闍委員会4号)，October 28, 1986.
57 Wiegand, Karl L.,1982, “Japan: Cautious Utilization,” Female Soldiers —Combatants or Noncombatants? Historical and Contemporary Perspectives, Goldman, Nancy Loring ed., Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 179-188, pp.186-187.
58 Mainichi Shimbun (每日新聞)，April 30,1993, evening edition.
59 Japanese Congressional Record, 118th House of Representatives, 6th Cabinet Committee (第118回衆議院内闍委員会6号)，May 24,1990. Suzuki Muneo was a leading member of the LDP. Two other statements illustrate the point: ”We don't insist that women should command soldiers as leaders” said Kuroyanagi Akira who was a member of the Komeito Party and “generally speaking, women are not physically appropriate for such military actions” commented Nukiyama Eiko, a woman member of Minshato Party at 102nd House of Councilor, 16th Foreign Affairs Committee (第102回参議院 外務委員会16号),June 6, 1985.
60 The Second Section of Personnel of the Defense Agency, 1990, “Result of Examination on the Issue on the Admission of Women to the NDA (従来慎重に対処してきた理由と検討結果),” May 9, 1990.
See Defense of Japan 1992 (日本の防衛平成 4 年度/版）, p.180 and Defense of Japan 1994 (日本
の防衛平成6年度版), p.211.
62 Mainichi shimbun (每日新聞)，January 16, 1993, evening edition.
63 Mikanagi, 2011, p.82.
64 Mikanagi, 2011, pp.93-94.
65 See here.
66 Asagumo (朝雲）,May 18, 2006 and February 22, 2007. The photo was awarded a prize for the best photo in the newspaper.
67 Elshtain, Jean Bethke, 1995, Women and War, 2nd edition, Chicago： University of Chicago Press, p.4.
68 The Committee of Drastic Reform of Defense Human Power, 2007, “Report on Drastic Reform of Defense Human Power (防衛力の人的 側面についての抜本的改革報告書),” June 28, 2007, pp.52-53.
69 Defense of Japan 2011(日本の防衛 平成23年度版), p.407.
70 See, for example, United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women, 2006, Securing Equality, Engendering Peace: A Guide to Policy and Planning on Women, Peace and Security (UN SCR 1325), New York： United Nations International Research and Training Institute for the Advancement of Women (INSTRAW).
71 This is also true for postnational militaries. See Kronsell, Annica, 2012, Gender, Sex, and the Postnational Defense: Militarism and Peacekeeping, Oxford： Oxford University Press, pp.13-14.
72 Enloe, Cynthia, 2000, Maneuvers: The International Politics of Militarizing Women's Lives, Los Angeles: University of California Press, p.291, emphasis in the original.
73 Sasaki, 2009, p.10.
74 As is known, the U.S. eliminated the draft in 1973 and many other countries followed suit. For example, Spain and France ended the draft in 2001, and Portugal and Italy in 2004. See here.
75 Stachowitsch, 2011, p.124.
76 Hunt, Krista and Kim Rygiel eds., 2006, (En)Gendering the War on Terror: War Stories and Camouflaged Politics, Aldershot： Ashgate, p.9.
77 Hunt and Rygiel eds., 2006, pp.9-10.
78 As for the FET, see example.
79 I modified the term “warrior-prince-of-peace” from Whitworth, Sandra, 2004, Men, Militarism & UN Peacekeeping ： A Gendered Analysis, Colorado: Lynne Rienner Publishers, p.12.
80 Link
81 “Operation Tomodachi was not a disinterested, benevolent military mission, of course. The mission aimed to show off the friendship between the U.S and Japan both in the international and domestic realm. See Handa Shigeru, 2012, The SDF after 3.11: Straying Direction of the Security Policy (3.11 後の自衛隊一迷走する安全保障政策のゆくえ）, Tokyo: Iwanami, pp.26-30.
82 According to a public survey conducted by the Cabinet Office in 2011, 97.7% of those polled placed a high value on the sDF’s operation in the disaster-stricken northeastern coast of Japan and the percentage of those who have good impression of the SDF marked the highest record in history as 91.7%. As for “Operation Tomodachi”，79.2% of those polled, less than that of the SDF, thought it achieved a measure of success.
83 Asahi Shimbun (, December 27,
2011, evening edition.
84 Whitworth, 2004, p.71.
85 On this point, see Whitworth, 2004.
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