| 7. Defense |
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Basic
Policies
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution renounces war and the
threat or use of force as a means of settling international
disputes.(*1) In the present government's interpretation, however,
it does not go so far as to deny the inalienable right of individual
self-defense inherent in a sovereign state or the exercise of
the right of self-defense by individual countries stipulated
in Article 51 of the United Nations Charter.(*2) Judging that
possession of a self defense force with necessary minimum capability
would not be against the principles of the Constitution, the
Japanese government established the Self-Defense Forces (SDF)(*3)
in 1954 for its own national security. Japan's armed actions
and armaments are thus limited to those that serve only defensive
purposes, which mean that armaments cannot include such weapons
as intercontinental ballistic missiles or long-range bombers.
Japan's defense system is based on its own defense capability
and the security treaty with the United States, signed in 1951.
In accordance with the Japan-US Security Treaty (*4), the United
States stations armed forces and maintains military facilities
and areas in Japan, 75% of which are located in Okinawa.
In September 1997, the governments of Japan and the United States
reached an agreement on new "Guidelines for Japan-US Defense
Cooperation (*5)" through a meeting of the Japan-US Security
Consultative Committee. The guidelines provide a general framework
and policy direction for the roles and missions of the two countries
and the modality of mutual cooperation and coordination, both
under normal circumstances and contingencies. The Japanese government
then prepared draft legislation to facilitate the implementation
of the new guidelines and submitted related bills to the Diet
in April 1998. The Diet passed legislation related to the new
guidelines in May 1999. The related bills are: (1) a draft Law
Relating to Measures for Preserving the Peace and Security of
Japan in the Event of a Situation in the Areas Surrounding Japan;
(2) a bill to amend the Self-Defense Forces Law; and (3) an
Agreement amending the Agreement between the Government of Japan
and the Government of the United States of America concerning
Reciprocal Provision of Logistic Support, Supplies and Services
between the Self-Defense Forces of Japan and the Armed Forces
of the United States of America (the so-called amended ACSA).
In response to the terrorist attacks that took place in the
United States on September 11, 2001, in October of that year
the Diet approved three laws concerning terrorism, including
the Anti-Terrorism Special Measures Law, which allows Japan's
SDF to lend non-combat support to the US-led military forces
operating overseas. In accordance with new law, several vessels
of the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) have been dispatched
to the Indian Ocean since November 2001 to provide logistical
support for the US-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan.
Dispatch of Self-Defense Forces to Iraq
In December 2003, the SDF faced the most important turning point
since it was founded in 1954 as the government approved a plan
to send SDF personnel to Iraq. (*6) The SDF, whose task had
long been strictly limited to national defense, engaged in its
first overseas mission when the MSDF helped sweep mines in the
Persian Gulf after the Gulf War in 1991. The SDF then took part
in its first United Nations peacekeeping activity in Cambodia
in 1992-1993. The conditions prescribing SDF's participation
in peacekeeping missions have been limited to situations where
a truce is in effect between the warring parties.
The present situation, however, appears completely different
from missions of the past as Iraq is a country in which fighting
is still taking place. Under the plan, some 600 Ground SDF (GSDF)
troops supply medical services and water and build schools and
other public facilities in southeastern parts of Iraq as humanitarian
assistance, while MSDF and Air SDF (ASDF) units engage in transportation
of aid materials using military ships and planes.
Due to strong resistance to the early dispatch of the GSDF,
which is seen as an easier target for terrorist attacks, the
government deployed ASDF personnel first. An ASDF advance team
was sent to Kuwait in December 2003, followed by three C-130
transport planes arriving in Kuwait in January 2004. In February
2004, about 80 GSDF personnel tasked with building fortified
barracks were dispatched for Samawah, a city in southern Iraq,
to prepare for the arrival of the main unit of about 440 troops
by the spring. The basic plan limits the SDF deployment period
from Dec. 15, 2003, to Dec. 14, 2004. It calls for up to 200
vehicles to accompany the GSDF, which will be equipped with
such heavy gear as high-powered recoilless rifles and anti-tank
weapons. The MSDF will send up to two transport ships and two
destroyers. The ASDF will deploy up to eight aircraft, including
C-130 transport planes.
The Three Non-Nuclear Principles
As the only country in the world having been subjected to atomic
attack, Japan has firmly upheld its self-imposed "three
non-nuclear principles (*7)" of not possessing, manufacturing,
or permitting the entry into Japan of nuclear weapons. It has
been the government's policy not to possess nuclear weapons
of any kind, and in line with this policy Japan is a party to
the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
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The SDF at Present
As of March 2002, the SDF had a total of
258,581 uniformed personnel in its three branches—GSDF,
MSDF and ASDF. (The three branches had a total of 47,900 uniformed
reserve personnel.)(*1) All uniformed personnel are volunteers,
as Japan has no conscription system. The breakdown was as
follows:
Joint Staff Council: 1,656 uniformed personnel.
GSDF: 148,197 uniformed personnel.
MSDF: 44,404 uniformed personnel.
ASDF: 45,582 uniformed personnel.
The GSDF has 1,040 tanks and 660 armored vehicles. The MSDF
has 54 destroyers in addition to 16 submarines and 99 P-3C
anti-submarine aircrafts, while the ASDF has 336 fighters
including F-15J/DJ, F-4EJ,and F-1.
Defense Spending
In 1976 the cabinet decided that defense spending should not
exceed 1% of gross national product (GNP). This ceiling, embedded
in the public conscience from the time it was set, was replaced
in 1987 with a formula that adjusted annual defense spending
according to the overall spending stipulated in the mid-term
defense program. In December 2000, the government's Security
Council and cabinet approved a new Mid-Term Defense Program
(fiscal years 2001-2005) totaling \25.16 trillion, an increase
of ¥930 billion over the previous program (fiscal 1996-2000),
with an average annual growth rate of 0.7%.(*2) The new Mid-Term
Defense Program calls for improving the capabilities of the
SDF to better deal with guerrilla and nuclear, biological,
or chemical attacks, strengthening the SDF's capacity to cope
with natural disasters, and upgrading information technology
systems and control-and-command systems in the SDF. The new
program also emphasizes efforts to restructure and streamline
the SDF in accordance with the government's overall defense
policy. In the budget for fiscal year 2003, the government
earmarked ¥4.92 trillion to defense spending, a slight
decrease of 0.3% from the previous fiscal year.(*3)
The defense budget includes Japanese financial assistance
for bearing part of the stationing cost of the US Forces in
Japan (USFJ), which started in fiscal 1978. This host nation
support has been stipulated in a special bilateral agreement
and covers, among other things, payment of the salaries of
Japanese workers employed at the US military bases, costs
of family housing, and utilities, including electricity, gas
and water supply required by the USFJ.
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*1. http://www.jda.go.jp/j/defense/jda-sdf/kousei/index.html
*2. http://www.jda.go.jp/j/library/wp/15/2003/html/15231100.html
*3. http://www.jda.go.jp/j/library/archives/yosan/2003/point.pdf
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