Japan Air Self-Defense Force
The Japan Air Self-Defense Force, JASDF referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace and for other aerospace operations. It is the de facto air force of Japan; the JASDF carries out combat air patrols around Japan, while maintaining a network of ground and air early-warning radar systems. The branch has an aerobatic team known as Blue Impulse and has provided air transport in UN peacekeeping missions; the JASDF had an estimated 50,324 personnel as of 2013, as of 2013 operated 777 aircraft 373 of them fighter aircraft. Japan did not have a separate air force before World War II. Aviation operations were carried out by the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service and the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service. Following World War II, the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy were dissolved and replaced by the JSDF with the passing of the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Act, with the JASDF as the aviation branch; until 2015, women were banned from becoming fighter jet and reconnaissance aircraft pilots, with the first female pilot of a F-15s set to join the ranks, along with three other female pilots in training, in 2018.
Major units of the JASDF are the Air Defense Command, Air Support Command, Air Training Command, Air Development and Test Command, Air Materiel Command. The Air Support Command is responsible for direct support of operational forces in rescue, control, weather monitoring and inspection; the Air Training Command is responsible for technical training. The Air Development and Test Command, in addition to overseeing equipment research and development, is responsible for research and development in such areas as flight medicine; the Air Defense Command has northern and western regional headquarters located at Misawa and Kasuga and the Southwestern Composite Air Division based at Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. All four regional headquarters control surface-to-air missile units of both the JASDF and the JGSDF located in their respective areas. Prime Minister of Japan Minister of Defense JASDF Chief of Staff / Air Staff Office Air Defense Command: Yokota, Tokyo Northern Air Defense Force: Misawa, Aomori 2nd Air Wing 3rd Air Wing Northern Air Command Support Flight, Northern Aircraft Control & Warning Wing 3rd Air Defense Missile Group 6th Air Defense Missile Group Central Air Defense Force: Iruma, Saitama 6th Air Wing 7th Air Wing Central Air Command Support Squadron Central Aircraft Control & Warning Wing 1st Air Defense Missile Group 4th Air Defense Missile Group Iwo Jima Air Base Group Western Air Defense Force: Kasuga, Fukuoka 5th Air Wing 8th Air Wing Western Air Command Support Squadron, Western Aircraft Control & Warning Wing 2nd Air Defense Missile Group Southwestern Air Division: Naha, Okinawa 9th Air Wing Southwestern Aircraft Control & Warning Group 5th Air Defense Missile Group Airborne Early Warning Group: Hamamatsu Air Base Airborne Early Warning and Surveillance Group: Misawa Air Base, Naha Air Base Tactical Reconnaissance Group: Hyakuri Air Base Air Tactics Development Wing Tactical Fighter Training Group: Komatsu Air Base Electronic Warfare Squadron Iruma Air Base Electronic Intelligence Squadron Iruma Air Base Air Rescue Wing Detachments: Chitose, Ashiya, Hyakuri, Niigata, Naha, Komaki Helicopter Airlift Squadrons: Iruma, Misawa, Naha Air Defense Missile Training Group: Hamamatsu, Chitose Air Support Command: Fuchū Air Base, Tokyo 1st Tactical Airlift Group 2nd Tactical Airlift Group 3rd Tactical Airlift Group Air Traffic Control Service Group Air Weather Group Flight Check Squadron Special Airlift Group: Air Training Command: Hamamatsu, Shizuoka 1st Air Wing 4th Air Wing 11th Flying Training Wing 12th Flight Training Wing 13th Flight Training Wing Fighter Training Group 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th Technical School Air Basic Training Wing Air Training Aids Group Air Officer Candidate School Air Development and Test Command: Iruma Air Base, Saitama Air Development and Test Wing Electronics Development and Test Group Aeromedical Laboratory Air Material Command: Jujou, Tokyo 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th Air Depot Air Staff College Air Communications and Systems Wing Aerosafety Service Group Central Air Base Group Others The JASDF maintains an integrated network of radar installations and air defense direction centers throughout the country known as the Basic Air Defense Ground Environment.
In the late 1980s, the system was modernized and augmente
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies off the eastern coast of the Asian continent and stretches from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea in the south; the kanji that make up Japan's name mean "sun origin", it is called the "Land of the Rising Sun". Japan is a stratovolcanic archipelago consisting of about 6,852 islands; the four largest are Honshu, Hokkaido and Shikoku, which make up about ninety-seven percent of Japan's land area and are referred to as home islands. The country is divided into 47 prefectures in eight regions, with Hokkaido being the northernmost prefecture and Okinawa being the southernmost one; the population of 127 million is the world's tenth largest. 90.7 % of people live in cities. About 13.8 million people live in the capital of Japan. The Greater Tokyo Area is the most populous metropolitan area in the world with over 38 million people. Archaeological research indicates; the first written mention of Japan is in Chinese history texts from the 1st century AD.
Influence from other regions China, followed by periods of isolation from Western Europe, has characterized Japan's history. From the 12th century until 1868, Japan was ruled by successive feudal military shōguns who ruled in the name of the Emperor. Japan entered into a long period of isolation in the early 17th century, ended in 1853 when a United States fleet pressured Japan to open to the West. After nearly two decades of internal conflict and insurrection, the Imperial Court regained its political power in 1868 through the help of several clans from Chōshū and Satsuma – and the Empire of Japan was established. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, victories in the First Sino-Japanese War, the Russo-Japanese War and World War I allowed Japan to expand its empire during a period of increasing militarism; the Second Sino-Japanese War of 1937 expanded into part of World War II in 1941, which came to an end in 1945 following the Japanese surrender. Since adopting its revised constitution on May 3, 1947, during the occupation led by SCAP, the sovereign state of Japan has maintained a unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy with an Emperor and an elected legislature called the National Diet.
Japan is a member of the ASEAN Plus mechanism, UN, the OECD, the G7, the G8, the G20, is considered a great power. Its economy is the world's third-largest by nominal GDP and the fourth-largest by purchasing power parity, it is the world's fourth-largest exporter and fourth-largest importer. Japan benefits from a skilled and educated workforce. Although it has renounced its right to declare war, Japan maintains a modern military with the world's eighth-largest military budget, used for self-defense and peacekeeping roles. Japan is a developed country with a high standard of living and Human Development Index, its population enjoys the highest life expectancy and third lowest infant mortality rate in the world, but is experiencing issues due to an aging population and low birthrate. Japan is renowned for its historical and extensive cinema, influential music industry, video gaming, rich cuisine and its major contributions to science and modern technology; the Japanese word for Japan is 日本, pronounced Nihon or Nippon and means "the origin of the sun".
The character nichi means "sun" or "day". The compound therefore means "origin of the sun" and is the source of the popular Western epithet "Land of the Rising Sun"; the earliest record of the name Nihon appears in the Chinese historical records of the Tang dynasty, the Old Book of Tang. At the end of the seventh century, a delegation from Japan requested that Nihon be used as the name of their country; this name may have its origin in a letter sent in 607 and recorded in the official history of the Sui dynasty. Prince Shōtoku, the Regent of Japan, sent a mission to China with a letter in which he called himself "the Emperor of the Land where the Sun rises"; the message said: "Here, I, the emperor of the country where the sun rises, send a letter to the emperor of the country where the sun sets. How are you". Prior to the adoption of Nihon, other terms such as Yamato and Wakoku were used; the term Wa is a homophone of Wo 倭, used by the Chinese as a designation for the Japanese as early as the third century Three Kingdoms period.
Another form of Wa, Wei in Chinese) was used for an early state in Japan called Nakoku during the Han dynasty. However, the Japanese disliked some connotation of Wa 倭, it was therefore replaced with the substitute character Wa, meaning "togetherness, harmony"; the English word Japan derives from the historical Chinese pronunciation of 日本. The Old Mandarin or early Wu Chinese pronunciation of Japan was recorded by Marco Polo as Cipangu. In modern Shanghainese, a Wu dialect, the pronunciation of characters 日本; the old Malay word for Japan, Japun or Japang, was borrowed from a southern coastal Chinese dialect Fukienese or Ningpo – and this Malay word was encountered by Portuguese traders in Southeast Asia in the 16th century. These Early Portuguese traders brought the word
World War II
World War II known as the Second World War, was a global war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. The vast majority of the world's countries—including all the great powers—eventually formed two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis. A state of total war emerged, directly involving more than 100 million people from over 30 countries; the major participants threw their entire economic and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. World War II was the deadliest conflict in human history, marked by 50 to 85 million fatalities, most of whom were civilians in the Soviet Union and China, it included massacres, the genocide of the Holocaust, strategic bombing, premeditated death from starvation and disease, the only use of nuclear weapons in war. Japan, which aimed to dominate Asia and the Pacific, was at war with China by 1937, though neither side had declared war on the other. World War II is said to have begun on 1 September 1939, with the invasion of Poland by Germany and subsequent declarations of war on Germany by France and the United Kingdom.
From late 1939 to early 1941, in a series of campaigns and treaties, Germany conquered or controlled much of continental Europe, formed the Axis alliance with Italy and Japan. Under the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact of August 1939, Germany and the Soviet Union partitioned and annexed territories of their European neighbours, Finland and the Baltic states. Following the onset of campaigns in North Africa and East Africa, the fall of France in mid 1940, the war continued between the European Axis powers and the British Empire. War in the Balkans, the aerial Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the long Battle of the Atlantic followed. On 22 June 1941, the European Axis powers launched an invasion of the Soviet Union, opening the largest land theatre of war in history; this Eastern Front trapped most crucially the German Wehrmacht, into a war of attrition. In December 1941, Japan launched a surprise attack on the United States as well as European colonies in the Pacific. Following an immediate U. S. declaration of war against Japan, supported by one from Great Britain, the European Axis powers declared war on the U.
S. in solidarity with their Japanese ally. Rapid Japanese conquests over much of the Western Pacific ensued, perceived by many in Asia as liberation from Western dominance and resulting in the support of several armies from defeated territories; the Axis advance in the Pacific halted in 1942. Key setbacks in 1943, which included a series of German defeats on the Eastern Front, the Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy, Allied victories in the Pacific, cost the Axis its initiative and forced it into strategic retreat on all fronts. In 1944, the Western Allies invaded German-occupied France, while the Soviet Union regained its territorial losses and turned toward Germany and its allies. During 1944 and 1945 the Japanese suffered major reverses in mainland Asia in Central China, South China and Burma, while the Allies crippled the Japanese Navy and captured key Western Pacific islands; the war in Europe concluded with an invasion of Germany by the Western Allies and the Soviet Union, culminating in the capture of Berlin by Soviet troops, the suicide of Adolf Hitler and the German unconditional surrender on 8 May 1945.
Following the Potsdam Declaration by the Allies on 26 July 1945 and the refusal of Japan to surrender under its terms, the United States dropped atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August respectively. With an invasion of the Japanese archipelago imminent, the possibility of additional atomic bombings, the Soviet entry into the war against Japan and its invasion of Manchuria, Japan announced its intention to surrender on 15 August 1945, cementing total victory in Asia for the Allies. Tribunals were set up by fiat by the Allies and war crimes trials were conducted in the wake of the war both against the Germans and the Japanese. World War II changed the political social structure of the globe; the United Nations was established to foster international co-operation and prevent future conflicts. The Soviet Union and United States emerged as rival superpowers, setting the stage for the nearly half-century long Cold War. In the wake of European devastation, the influence of its great powers waned, triggering the decolonisation of Africa and Asia.
Most countries whose industries had been damaged moved towards economic expansion. Political integration in Europe, emerged as an effort to end pre-war enmities and create a common identity; the start of the war in Europe is held to be 1 September 1939, beginning with the German invasion of Poland. The dates for the beginning of war in the Pacific include the start of the Second Sino-Japanese War on 7 July 1937, or the Japanese invasion of Manchuria on 19 September 1931. Others follow the British historian A. J. P. Taylor, who held that the Sino-Japanese War and war in Europe and its colonies occurred and the two wars merged in 1941; this article uses the conventional dating. Other starting dates sometimes used for World War II include the Italian invasion of Abyssinia on 3 October 1935; the British historian Antony Beevor views the beginning of World War II as the Battles of Khalkhin Gol fought between Japan and the fo
George VI
George VI was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death on 6 February 1952. He was the first Head of the Commonwealth. Known publicly as Albert until his accession, "Bertie" among his family and close friends, George VI was born in the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, was named after his great-grandfather Albert, Prince Consort; as the second son of King George V, he was not expected to inherit the throne and spent his early life in the shadow of his elder brother, Edward. He attended naval college as a teenager, served in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force during the First World War. In 1920, he was made Duke of York, he married Lady Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon in 1923 and they had two daughters and Margaret. In the mid-1920s, he had speech therapy for a stammer, which he never overcame. George's elder brother ascended the throne as Edward VIII upon the death of their father in 1936; however that year Edward revealed his desire to marry divorced American socialite Wallis Simpson.
British prime minister Stanley Baldwin advised Edward that for political and religious reasons he could not marry a divorced woman and remain king. Edward abdicated to marry Simpson, George ascended the throne as the third monarch of the House of Windsor. During George's reign, the break-up of the British Empire and its transition into the Commonwealth of Nations accelerated; the parliament of the Irish Free State removed direct mention of the monarch from the country's constitution on the day of his accession. The following year, a new Irish constitution changed the name of the state to Ireland and established the office of President. From 1939, the Empire and Commonwealth – except Ireland – was at war with Nazi Germany. War with Italy and Japan followed in 1941, respectively. Though Britain and its allies were victorious in 1945, the United States and the Soviet Union rose as pre-eminent world powers and the British Empire declined. After the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947, George remained king of both countries, but relinquished the title of Emperor of India in June 1948.
Ireland formally declared itself a republic and left the Commonwealth in 1949, India became a republic within the Commonwealth the following year. George adopted the new title of Head of the Commonwealth, he was beset by smoking-related health problems in the years of his reign. He was succeeded by his elder daughter, Elizabeth II. George was born at York Cottage, on the Sandringham Estate in Norfolk, during the reign of his great-grandmother Queen Victoria, his father was Prince George, Duke of York, the second and eldest-surviving son of the Prince and Princess of Wales. His mother was the Duchess of York, the eldest child and only daughter of the Duke and Duchess of Teck, his birthday, 14 December 1895, was the 34th anniversary of the death of his great-grandfather, Prince Consort. Uncertain of how the Prince Consort's widow, Queen Victoria, would take the news of the birth, the Prince of Wales wrote to the Duke of York that the Queen had been "rather distressed". Two days he wrote again: "I think it would gratify her if you yourself proposed the name Albert to her".
Queen Victoria was mollified by the proposal to name the new baby Albert, wrote to the Duchess of York: "I am all impatience to see the new one, born on such a sad day but rather more dear to me as he will be called by that dear name, a byword for all, great and good". He was baptised "Albert Frederick Arthur George" at St. Mary Magdalene's Church near Sandringham three months later. Within the family, he was known informally as "Bertie", his maternal grandmother, the Duchess of Teck, did not like the first name the baby had been given, she wrote prophetically that she hoped the last name "may supplant the less favoured one". Albert was fourth in line to the throne at birth, after his grandfather and elder brother, Edward, he suffered from ill health and was described as "easily frightened and somewhat prone to tears". His parents were removed from their children's day-to-day upbringing, as was the norm in aristocratic families of that era, he had a stammer. Although left-handed, he was forced to write with his right hand, as was common practice at the time.
He suffered from chronic stomach problems as well as knock knees, for which he was forced to wear painful corrective splints. Queen Victoria died on 22 January 1901, the Prince of Wales succeeded her as King Edward VII. Prince Albert moved up to third in line after his father and elder brother. From 1909, Albert attended Osborne, as a naval cadet. In 1911 he came bottom of the class in the final examination, but despite this he progressed to the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth; when his grandfather, Edward VII, died in 1910, Albert's father became King George V. Edward became Prince of Wales, with Albert second in line to the throne. Albert spent the first six months of 1913 on the training ship HMS Cumberland in the West Indies and on the east coast of Canada, he was rated as a midshipman aboard HMS Collingwood on 15 September 1913, spent three months in the Mediterranean. His fellow officers gave him the nickname "Mr. Johnson"; the First World War broke out a year after his commission. Three weeks after the outbreak of war he was medically evacuated from the ship to Aberdeen where his appendix was removed by Sir John Marnoch.
He was mentioned in despatches for his action as a turret officer aboard Collingwood i
Chūō Main Line
The Chūō Main Line called the Chūō Line, is one of the major trunk railway lines in Japan. It connects Tokyo and Nagoya, although it is the slowest direct railway connection between the two cities; the eastern portion, the Chūō East Line, is operated by the East Japan Railway Company, while the western portion, the Chūō West Line, is operated by the Central Japan Railway Company. The dividing point between the two companies is Shiojiri Station, where express trains from both operators continue to the Shinonoi Line towards the cities of Matsumoto and Nagano. Compared to the huge urban areas at either end of the Chūō Line, its central portion is lightly traveled; the Chūō Main Line passes through the mountainous center of Honshu. Its highest point is about 900 meters above sea level and much of the line has a gradient of 25 per mil. Along the Chūō East Line section, peaks of the Akaishi and Kiso as well as Mount Yatsugatake can be seen from trains; the Chūō West Line parallels the steep Kiso Valley.
Entire Route: 424.6 km East Line: 222.1 km Tokyo - Kanda: 1.3 km Kanda - Yoyogi: 8.3 km Yoyogi - Shinjuku: 0.7 km Shinjuku - Shiojiri: 211.8 km East Line - Tatsuno branch line: 27.7 km West Line: 174.8 km Shiojiri - Kanayama: 171.5 km Kanayama - Nagoya: 3.3 km This section lists all stations on the Chūō Main Line and explains regional services on the line. In addition, there are limited express services connecting major cities along the line, namely Azusa, Super Azusa, Hamakaiji, Narita Express and Shinano. For details of the limited express trains, see the relevant articles; the section between Tokyo and Mitaka is grade-separated, with no level crossings. Between Ochanomizu and Mitaka, the Chūō Main Line has four tracks; the local tracks are used by the main line local trains and the Chūō-Sōbu Line local trains, while the rapid tracks carry rapid service and limited express trains. The Tokyo-Mitaka portion is a vital cross-city rail link; the commuter services on the rapid tracks are collectively called the Chūō Line in comparison with the Chūō Line or the Chūō-Sōbu Line on the local tracks.
The former is referred to as the Chūō Line and the latter the Sōbu Line. Separate groups of trainsets are used for these two groups of services: cars with an orange belt for the rapid service trains and cars with a yellow belt for the local service trains, with the exception of early morning and late night local service trains which use cars with an orange belt. Signs at stations use these colors to indicate the services; this section is located within Tokyo. The four-track section ends at Mitaka. Most of the section between Mitaka and Tachikawa had been elevated between 2008-2011 to eliminate level crossings. Plans have been proposed to add another two tracks as far as Tachikawa, but were not included in the track elevation. Most of the rapid service trains from Tokyo terminate at Takao where the line exits the large urban area of Tokyo; the section between Takao and Ōtsuki still carries some commuter trains as well as long distance local trains and Limited Express trains. The Kaiji limited express terminates at Kōfu, the capital of Yamanashi Prefecture, while the Azusa and Super Azusa continue beyond Shiojiri to Matsumoto via the Shinonoi Line.
All stations from Tachikawa to Shiojiri are served by the Chūō Main Line Local. The Okaya-Shiojiri branch is an old route of the Chūō Main Line, it carries a small number of shuttle trains and trains from/to the Iida Line, which branches off at Tatsuno. Prior to the opening of the new route between Okaya and Shiojiri, there was a junction between Ono and Shiojiri stations, it had a reversing layout. The signal station was closed on October 12, 1983. Shiojiri is the dividing point of the West Line; the Shinano limited express is the main service for the rural Shiojiri-Nakatsugawa section. Local and rapid service trains run on the line from Nakatsugawa to Nagoya; this section carries urban traffic for the Greater Nagoya Area. Legends: R: Rapid CL: Central Liner HL: Home Liner Fumonji Junction is a junction between Chino and Kami-Suwa stations in Suwa, Nagano, it entered into use on 2 September 1970. Sannō Junction is a junction that diverts freight traffic from the Chūō Main Line to the Tōkaidō Line freight branch between Kanayama and Nagoya stations in Nagoya.
It entered into use on 10 October 1962. New E233 series trains entered service on Tokyo-area commuter services from 26 December 2006; these trains are a development of the E231 series used on other commuter lines in the Tokyo area, replaced the aging 201 series rolling stock introduced on the line in 1981. From 2016, new E353 series EMUs are scheduled to be introduced on Azusa and Super Azusa limited express services
Imperial Guard (Japan)
The Japanese Imperial Guard is the name of two separate organizations dedicated to the protection of the Emperor of Japan and the Imperial Family and other imperial properties. The first was a quasi-independent branch of the Imperial Japanese Army, dissolved at the end of World War II; the second is the Imperial Guard Headquarters, a civilian Imperial Guard formed as part of the National Police Agency of Japan. The Imperial Guard of the Imperial Japanese Army was formed in 1867, it became the foundation of the Imperial Japanese Army after the Emperor Meiji assumed all the powers of state during the Meiji Restoration. The Imperial Guard, which consisted of 12,000 men organized and trained along French Military lines, first saw action in the Satsuma Rebellion, it was organized into the 1st Guards Infantry Brigade which had the 2nd Regiments. The 3rd and 4th Regiments belonged to the 2nd Guards infantry Brigade. By 1885 the Imperial Japanese Army consisted of seven divisions, one of, the Imperial Guard.
A division consisted of four regiments containing two battalions each. The Imperial Guard division was recruited nationally. After the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, a second Guard Brigade was formed from indigenous Formosans. In 1920 the Guards Cavalry Regiment, Guards Field Artillery Regiment, Guards Engineer Battalion, Guards Transport Battalion, plus other Guards service units were added. From 1937 to 1939 the Guards Engineer Battalion was expanded into a regiment as was the Guards Transport Battalion. In September 1939, the division was split into 2nd Guards Brigades; the 1st Guards Brigade, which contained the 1st and 2nd Guards Infantry Regiments, the cavalry regiment, half of the support units, was transferred to South China. Here it became known as the Mixed Guards Brigade. In October 1940, it joined other Japanese units occupying French Indo-China. In April 1941 the Mixed Guards Brigade returned to Tokyo but it did not rejoin the Imperial Guards Division; the 2nd Guards Brigade, which contained 3rd and 4th Guards Regiments went to China.
In 1940, it went to Shanghai before being posted to Hainan Island. In June 1941, the 5th Guards Infantry Regiment joined the 2nd Guards Brigade becoming the Imperial Guard Division again, it saw action in the Battles of Malaya and Singapore with Tomoyuki Yamashita's 25th Army. In May 1943, all designated Imperial Guard units were renamed again; the Mixed Guards Brigade in Tokyo became the 1st Guards Division and the Imperial Guard Division became the 2nd Guards Division. The 3rd Guards Division, which never left Japan, was formed in 1944, it consisted of the 9th and 10th Guards Regiments. Sources do not agree if there was a 7th Guard Regiment. All military Imperial Guard Divisions were dissolved at the end of World War II. In Malaya and Singapore, the Guard Division was involved in several notorious Japanese war crimes such as the Parit Sulong Massacre and the Sook Ching massacre. Lt Gen. Takuma Nishimura, sentenced to life imprisonment by a British military court in relation to the Sook Ching killings, was convicted of war crimes by an Australian Military Court in relation to the Parit Sulong massacre.
He was executed by hanging on June 11, 1951. Until 1939, the Cavalry of the Imperial Guard wore a French style parade uniform consisting of a dark-blue tunic with red Brandenburg braiding, a red kepi and red breeches; the red kepi had a white plume with a red base. Prior to the general adoption of khaki by the Japanese Army during the Russo-Japanese War, an all white linen uniform had been worn in hot weather; the Infantry of the Imperial Guard wore a dark blue uniform with white leggings for both parade and service wear until 1905. It was distinguished from that of the line infantry by a red band and piping on the peaked service cap. Officers wore a dark blue tunic with 5 rows of black mohair froggings and dark blue breeches with a red stripe down each seam. Following the adoption of a khaki service dress, the Guard Infantry wore this on all occasions, although officers retained the blue and red uniform for certain ceremonial occasions when not parading with troops. In the field, the army's standard khaki uniform was worn by all Imperial Guard units from 1905 to 1945.
Guard units were distinguished by a wreathed star in bronze worn on the headgear, in contrast to the plain five pointed star worn by other units. In 1947, the Imperial Guard Headquarters was created under the control of the Home Ministry from the Imperial Household Ministry, it came under the aegis of the National Police Agency of Japan in 1957. At present, it consists of over 900 security police personnel who provide personal security for the Emperor, Crown Prince and other members of the Imperial Family of Japan, as well as protection of imperial properties, including the Tokyo Imperial Palace, Kyoto Imperial Palace, Katsura Imperial Villa, Shugakuin Imperial Villa, Shosoin Imperial Repository in Nara and the imperial villas as Hayama and Nasu, Tochigi; the Imperial Guard maintains a 14 horse mounted police unit for use by guards of honour at state ceremonies. In addition to their security duties, the Imperial Guard is responsible for fire-fighting within the grounds of the Palace, maintains fire engines and trained staff of this purpose.
The NPA Imperial Guards wear a dark blue or a blue-grey police uniform with white gloves while on duty with peaked caps for public duties activties. They wear white pistol belts, helmets, boot laces or leggings, they carry police rank insignia in their shoulder boards. Imperial Guard Manchukuo Imperial Guards Imperial
Ministry of Defense (Japan)
The Ministry of Defense is a cabinet-level ministry of the Government of Japan charged with preserving the peace and independence of Japan and maintaining national security with the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Headed by the Minister of Defense, it is the largest organ of the Japanese government; the ministry is headquartered in Ichigaya, Tokyo, is required by Article 66 of the Constitution to be subordinate to civilian authority. On June 8, 2006, the Cabinet of Japan endorsed a bill elevating the Defense Agency under the Cabinet Office to full-fledged cabinet-level Ministry of Defense. 53 years after the establishment of the Defense Agency in 1954, the Ministry of Defense was founded on January 9, 2007. The Ministry of Defense is headquartered in Ichigaya, Tokyo, on a site which housed the Imperial Japanese Army Academy, built in 1874, the GHQ of the Imperial Japanese Army before and during World War II, of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force following the war; the Japanese Defense Agency was established on July 1, 1954.
Until May 2000, it was based in Akasaka. The Ministry of Defense is required by Article 66 of the Constitution to be subordinate to civilian authority, its head has the rank of Minister of State. He is assisted by one parliamentary and one administrative; the highest figure in the command structure is the Prime Minister, responsible directly to the National Diet. In a national emergency, the Prime Minister is authorized to order the various components of the Japan Self-Defense Forces into action, subject to the consent of the Diet. In times of extreme emergency, that approval might be obtained after the fact. In July 1986, the Security Council was established; the Council was presided over by the Prime Minister and includes the Ministers of State specified in advance in Article 9 of the Cabinet Law. The chairman of the Security Council can invite the chairman of the Joint Staff Council and any other relevant state minister or official to attend. Replacing the National Defense Council, which had acted as an advisory group on defense-related matters since 1956, the Security Council addresses a wider range of military and nonmilitary security issues, including basic national defense policy, the National Defense Program Outline, the outline on coordinating industrial production and other matters related to the National Defense Program Outline, decisions on diplomatic initiatives and defense operations.
The internal bureaus the Bureau of Defense Policy, Bureau of Finance, the Bureau of Equipment, are headed by officials from other ministries and are the main centers of power and instruments of civilian control in the Defense Agency. The Bureau of Defense Policy is responsible for drafting defense policy and programs, for determining day-to-day operational activities, for information gathering and analysis in the JSDF; the Bureau of Finance is instrumental in developing the Defense Agency budget and in establishing spending priorities for the Defense Agency and the JSDF. The Bureau of Equipment, organized into subunits for each of the military services, focuses on equipment procurement. Before any major purchase is recommended to the Diet by the Defense Agency, it has to be reviewed by each of these bureaus. Below these civilian groups are the uniformed JSDF personals, its senior officer is the chairman of the Joint Staff Council, a body that included the chiefs of staff of the ground and air arms of the Self-Defense Forces.
Its principal functions are to plan and execute joint exercises. The three branches maintain staff offices to manage operations in their branches. Although rank establishes echelons of command within the JSDF, all three branches are responsible to the director general and are coequal bodies with the Joint Staff Council and the three staff offices; this structure precludes the concentration of power of the pre-1945 Imperial General Staff general staffs, but it impedes interservice coordination, there are few formal exchanges among commanders from various branches. Moreover, some dissatisfaction has been reported by highranking officers who feel they have little power compared with younger civilian officials in the bureaus, who most have no military experience. To rectify this situation and to increase input by the JSDF in policy matters, in the early 1980s the Joint Staff Council was enlarged to establish better lines of communication between the internal bureaus and the three staff offices.
A computerized central command and communications system and various tactical command and communications systems were established, linking service and field headquarters with general headquarters at the Defense Agency and with one another. In the 1980s, efforts were under way to facilitate a clear and efficient command policy in the event of a crisis; the government stood by the principle that military action was permitted only under civilian control, but in recognition that delay for consultation might prove dangerous, ships of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force began to be armed with live torpedoes, fighter-interceptors were allowed to carry missiles at all times. Although aircraft had long been allowed to force down intruders without waiting for permission from the prime minister, ships were still required to receive specific orders before interdicting invading vessels; the Defense Agency ha
Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency website http://www.afhra.af.mil/.
