Japan's officers face riskier future

TOKYO, Dec 14: Many in Japan see university as a relaxing holiday period sandwiched between the ''examination hell'' of school and the stress of a full-time job.

Not so 20-year-old Fumikazu Murakami from the northern island of Hokkaido, a first-year cadet enrolled in an intense programme of study at Japan's National Defense Academy, which trains officers for all three branches of the military.

''My friends from high school who went to ordinary universities are out having fun every day,'' he said in a recent interview on a dock near the academy at Yokosuka, 45 km southwest of Tokyo, after spending two hours in rowing training.

''When I look at them, I feel jealous,'' the would-be air force officer said.

Spooked by concerns over North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes and China's growing strength, pacifist Japan is likely to pass bills this week upgrading its Defense Agency to a ministry and making overseas peacekeeping missions a principal duty of the armed forces.

The changes are likely to affect Murakami and his 1,700 fellow cadets -- many of whom mention helping people rather than defending their country as their reason for joining up.

''I think the students feel proud that the Defense Agency will become a ministry,'' academy president Makoto Iokibe, a former politics professor, told Reuters in an interview.

''I think they also understand that their role will become even more important for the people of Japan,'' he added.

OFFICERS AND 'GENTLEMEN'

Adjustments are needed at the academy, established in 1952, because Japan's officers need new skills to deal with the changing risks facing the country, Iokibe said.

''We have to deal with problems in our backyard, and as the world becomes smaller, we also have to contribute to the maintenance of international security,'' Iokibe said.

The academy's sweeping seaside campus boasts a shooting range for students to practise handling guns.

But the prospect of facing combat is remote, given the restrictions of Japan's US-drafted pacifist constitution.

Even the troops dispatched in 2004 to southern Iraq on a non-combat mission in support of the US-led war returned this year without firing a shot or suffering a single casualty.

The new emphasis on overseas missions could put Japan's troops at greater risk, but Iokibe said he felt there was no reason for other countries to worry about a revival of the militarism that underpinned Japan's aggression in Asia in the early 20th century.

''Before the war, military education started at middle school level,'' said Iokibe, who was appointed in August.

''That created strong military men, but they had a narrow outlook. They were inclined to fight, rather than try to understand complex international problems,'' he added.

''In contrast to that, we now try to introduce a broad education, like that of an English gentleman,'' Iokibe said.

Would-be officers of the three branches of the armed forces train together for their first of four years before splitting into separate units for ground, air and naval cadets, a system intended as a decisive break from prewar policy.

''Before World War Two, the army and navy were bitter rivals,'' Iokibe said. ''The competition between the two helped lead the country along a mistaken path.

''Japan wanted to get rid of this meaningless rivalry, which is why the three branches are educated together and live together at the academy,'' he said.

HEAVY LOAD Academy life means cadets have their time laid out almost minute by minute from 6:30 a.m. reveille to 10:30 p.m. taps.

On top of a normal academic load, these young men and women have to squeeze in military studies, basic training and compulsory sports, leaving little time for partying.

First-year students are not permitted to spend the night off campus during term time, and holidays are short.

Despite the pressure-cooker programme, the academy is bombarded with applications and last year accepted only one in nine of those who sat the entrance examination.

''You might imagine that our students are focused on defending the nation,'' said senior academy administrator Kazuo Tsukuda.

''But it seems only about half of them are thinking about that when they come here,'' he added. The remainder are attracted by free tuition and a salary of around 100,000 yen (850 dollars) a month.

''Whichever way they think when they arrive, we try to train them firmly as officers for the armed forces,'' Tsukuda said.

REUTERS