Japan wants to significantly boost the number of women in the military by the mid-2030s, the Japanese Ministry of Defense has said, as it struggles to convince young people to enlist.
Under a new target set this year, women should account for 13 percent of troops in the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF) by March 2036, up from 9 percent 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.
Photo: AFP
The ministry plans “to promote the active engagement of female personnel,” it said in a statement, emphasizing 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 raising defense spending and trying to lure more talent to its armed forces, as anxiety grows over China’s territorial ambitions in the region.
However, dangerous duties, low pay and a young retirement age of about 56 are off-putting for young Japanese, officials and experts said.
Japan’s low birthrate, shrinking population and tight labor market are also complicating recruitment, leaving 10 percent of the force’s approximately 250,000 positions unfilled.
Among NATO member countries and their partner states female troops accounted for more than 12 percent of armed forces personnel as of 2022, up from just more than 10 percent in 2014, according to a report by the European Parliamentary Research Service.
In the US, women made up about 18 percent of recruits as of 2023, the US Department of Defense said.
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 defense 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.
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