The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

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2. Overview of the GSDF

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 1-1

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   2. Introduction

      • Paul Midford, Robert D. Eldridge

      Pages 3-17

   3. Organization and Structure of the Contemporary Ground Self-Defense Force

      • Robert D. Eldridge

      Pages 19-55

3. The History of the GSDF

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 57-57

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   2. The Early Years of the Ground Self-Defense Forces, 1945–1960

      • Ayako Kusunoki

      Pages 59-131

   3. The GSDF During the Cold War Years, 1960–1989

      • Robert D. Eldridge

      Pages 133-181

   4. The GSDF During the Post-Cold War Years, 1989–2015

      • Giuseppe A. Stavale

      Pages 183-230

4. Civilian Control and the Search for Acceptance

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 231-231

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   2. The Ground Self-Defense Force and Civilian Control

      • Katsuhiro Musashi

      Pages 233-263

   3. The GSDF and Disaster Relief Dispatches

      • Tomoaki Murakami

      Pages 265-296

   4. The GSDF’s Quest for Public Acceptance and the “Allergy” Myth

      • Paul Midford

      Pages 297-345

   5. Conclusion

      • Robert D. Eldridge, Paul Midford

      Pages 347-359

5. Back Matter

   Pages 361-416

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Based on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force. It addresses:  how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan’s anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world’s third-largest-economic power’s ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan’s outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan’s lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies. 

• Self-Defense Force
• SDF
• Ground Self-Defense Force
• GSDF
• Civilian Control
• Disaster Relief Operations
• anti-militarism

• Institute for International Policy Studies, Tokyo, Japan

  Robert D. Eldridge

• Norwegian University for Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

  Paul Midford

Robert D. Eldridge is Visiting Fellow, Institute for International Policy Studies in Tokyo, and the author or translator of several dozen books about Japan including most recently, The Origins of U.S. Policy in the East China Sea Islands Dispute: Okinawa’s Reversion and the Senkaku Islands.


Paul Midford is Professor of Political Science and Director of the NTNU Japan Program at the Norwegian University for Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim.  He is the author of Rethinking Japanese Public Opinion and Security: From Pacifism to Realism?