Japan short on recruits, eyes women to fill ranks by 2036

TOKYO, April 8 — Japan wants to significantly boost the number of women in the military by the mid 2030s, the defence ministry has said, as it struggles to convince young people to enlist.

Under a new target set this year, women should account for 13 per cent of troops in Japan’s Self-Defense Forces (SDF) by March 2036, up from nine per cent currently, the ministry said.

The recruitment drive comes as the ministry pledged to improve conditions for female personnel in the wake of a widely reported sexual assault scandal in which an ex-soldier used YouTube to share her story after an internal military probe was dropped.

The ministry plans “to promote the active engagement of female personnel” it said in a statement to AFP, emphasising the need for “work-life balance”.

As opportunities for female troops continue to expand, the ministry is “improving facilities…including the development of women’s restrooms, baths, and dedicated areas at each garrison and base, as well as women’s quarters on vessels,” it added.

Tokyo is upping defence spending and trying to lure more talent to its armed forces, as anxiety grows over China’s territorial ambitions in the region.

But dangerous duties, low pay and a young retirement age of around 56 are off-putting for young Japanese, officials and experts say.

Japan’s low birth rate, shrinking population and tight labour market are also complicating recruitment, leaving 10 per cent of the force’s approximately 250,000 positions unfilled.

Although the SDF has sophisticated defence capabilities, it has until recently refrained from having counter-attack capability, reflecting the US-imposed pacifist constitution that bans use of force as means of settling conflicts.

None of the current forces’ members have died in conflict or killed anyone. Most of some 2,000 personnel who have died in the line of duty since 1950, when the SDF’s predecessor organisation was established, was during military drills.

Among Nato member countries and their partner states, there are, on average, more women troops, and they accounted for more than 12 per cent of armed forces personnel as of 2022, according to a report by the European Parliamentary Research Service. That was up from just over 10 per cent in 2014.

In the United States, women made up around 18 per cent of recruits as of 2023, according to the Department of Defense.

Increasing the number of female SDF personnel “will help bring a wider variety of perspectives to our missions, such as disaster relief operations and other activities involving direct interaction with the public,” Japan’s defence ministry said.

Women rarely hold positions in the upper echelons of Japanese politics, business, government and military.

Former soldier Rina Gonoi, who was sexually assaulted while serving in the military, reached a settlement with the government and her former colleague in January this year after a years-long legal battle. — AFP