No foreign soldiers: Japan shuts down proposal to fix military shortfall

By 2045, Japan’s Self-Defence Forces (SDF) could shrink to 130,000 personnel – nearly half today’s strength. But Tokyo has already ruled out one think tank’s controversial fix: recruiting foreign nationals. The proposal formed part of a report written by a panel of senior former defence bureaucrats and military chiefs, released by the Sasakawa Peace Foundation on September 2. It attracted widespread comment, both supportive and critical, before Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi made the...