Japan sees few recruits as low pay, bullying, sex abuse claims give military ‘negative image’
- Only 4,300 people joined Japan’s Self-Defence Forces this past year, less than half of the military’s target of more than 9,200 personnel
- Young people refuse to work for ‘someone always giving orders’, while harassment cases and a starting salary that is lower than a police officer’s are other turn-offs
The shortage of new conscripts is the worst since 2009. The military had aimed to attract more than 9,200 personnel to join on fixed terms of two or three years, with the option to continue to serve on the ground, air and maritime arms of the SDF, the Nikkei newspaper reported.
Every year since 2009, when comparable statistics were first compiled, the SDF has managed a recruitment rate of more than 80 per cent of its target, the paper said, except for 2018 when a low of 72 per cent was reported.
Some 247,000 personnel serve in Japan’s armed forces, about 90 per cent of the military’s optimum figure, despite increased recruitment efforts in recent years.
“The biggest single factor is the gradual decline in the Japanese population and the falling number of eligible recruits between the ages of 18 and their early 20s,” said Fumio Ohta, a retired admiral in the Japan Maritime Self-Defence Force and a former head of the Defence Intelligence Headquarters.