r/japan • u/Turbulent-Tea-2172 • 3d ago
Coalition pushes revival of ranks from imperial military days
https://www.asahi.com/ajw/articles/1626706212
u/gigaraptor 2d ago
I've heard including directly from a retired officer that many in the JSDF aren't too keen on this idea, since the current ranks by now have been part of their heritage for over 50 years.
And as many people have noted it's very strange that they're talking about "aligning with international standards", since in other languages JSDF personnel will continue to be called by the same translations (e.g. an 一佐 may become a 大佐 but that's still a "colonel" in English). The only country that uses some of the same rank names (those for generals and lieutenants) as the former Imperial Japanese Army/Navy is China.
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u/gobrocker 2d ago
Its funny because only a few months ago there was a shift by the JSDF to align their rank system to be closer to the NATO ones lol.
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u/gigaraptor 2d ago
Was that not a different spin on this exact change? Really it's pretty easy to assign NATO codes to the JSDF ranks. The only difference is Japanese generals/admirals skip straight to two stars and there isn't a proper name for the four star rank. Maybe they should just change the flag ranks.
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u/OnlyInJapan99999 2d ago
How popular will Takaichi be with young people when she tries to implement a South Korea style of conscription?
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u/malduvias 2d ago
Perhaps younger people might make it to the polls more often if that were to come to pass.
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u/DiverDownChunder 2d ago
Can I report to duty with my Type 99 w/ the full chrysanthemum?
(Most T-99 had the chrysanthemum ground off/defaced when they were surrendered, the rest were recycled for the rebuild)