It embarks on charm offensive to woo recruits after sharp drop in number of applicants
The SDF has set up a showroom in trendy Shibuya district, which has model ships and tanks as well as mannequins in ground, marine and air force uniforms. Visitors can also try on the uniforms. -- PHOTOS: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
TOKYO: As soft piano music played on the speakers, two high-school girls browsed the racks in the room, giggling and looking for the cutest outfits.
But they were not checking out the latest trends at a fashion boutique.
'Young people just don't think that joining the SDF is one of the options for their future career, unlike becoming police officers or firefighters. We need to soften the image of the SDF as being rigid, severe and dangerous.'
Major Makoto Nishida, who is in charge of recruiting and personnel affairs at the Ground Staff Office
Welcome to the Japanese military's office in Shibuya, a trendy district in Tokyo. It is part of a charm offensive by the military - known as the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) - to draw new recruits.
Despite a push by politicians for Japan to play a bigger role in global security, the number of people seeking military careers is dwindling as the population grows older and the young find the armed forces uncool.
Mannequins in ground, marine and air force uniforms stand at the windows of the military's Shibuya office.
Young people can try on the uniforms and pose for snapshots. In a glass case are plastic models of planes, ships and tanks along with tiny dolls of smiling, saluting female military personnel. A TV screen shows videos about life in the SDF.
About 1,600 people have visited the showroom since its official opening on July 1, many more than the 1,000 expected, said Major Makoto Nishida, who is in charge of recruiting and personnel affairs at the Ground Staff Office. He said the number of applicants applying for entry into the SDF had nearly halved from the peak years of 2002 and 2003.
'The number of children is on the decline while more are seeking higher education,' he said.
'Young people just don't think that joining the SDF is one of the options for their future career...We need to soften the image of the SDF as being rigid, severe and dangerous.'
The Shibuya centre has tailor-made uniforms for children who are 1.2m tall, about the height of pupils entering primary school.
Maj Nishida said: 'We hope children will have a friendly image towards us.'
The SDF also runs commercials on TV and at cinemas. The soft approach may work, judging from the response of some young Japanese who have visited the showroom.
'It was fun,' said Akina Namegawa, 15, after trying on a uniform and having her photograph taken for free.
Her friend Chihiro Shimozuka said she had never thought of joining the military as 'it looks tough'. But after browsing around the office, she said: 'I now think I may take a little bit of interest.'
Japan's image in parts of Asia and the West remains tainted by wartime militarism. The country renounced the use of force in its 1947 Constitution imposed by United States occupiers.
Despite its pacifist Constitution, Japan has the world's fifth-biggest military budget and maintains more than 230,000 SDF personnel.
But troops in the post-war SDF have never fired a shot in combat. Technically, they are civil servants in the Defence Ministry.
