Japan Ground Self-Defense Force

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
陸上自衛隊 (Japanese)
Emblem of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force
Founded1 July 1954 (1954-07-01)[1]
Country Japan
TypeArmy
RoleLand warfare
Size150,700 active personnel (2023)
56,000 reserve personnel (2023)[2]
Part ofJapan Self-Defense Forces
Garrison/HQIchigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo, Japan
ColoursRed, White and Gold
March"Battōtai" (抜刀隊)
Websitewww.mod.go.jp/gsdf/ Edit this at Wikidata
Commanders
Prime Minister of JapanShigeru Ishiba
Minister of DefenseGen Nakatani
Chief of Staff, Joint StaffGeneral Yoshihide Yoshida
Chief of the Ground StaffGeneral Yasunori Morishita
Insignia
Flag

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Japanese: 陸上自衛隊, Hepburn: Rikujō Jieitai), JGSDF (陸自, Rikuji), also referred to as the Japanese Army,[3] is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service branches.

New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, direct the Japan Self-Defense Forces away from their Cold War focus on the Soviet Union to a new focus on China, especially in respect of the dispute over the Senkaku Islands.[4]

The JGSDF operates under the command of the chief of the ground staff, based in the city of Ichigaya, Shinjuku, Tokyo. The present chief of staff is General Yasunori Morishita. The JGSDF numbered 150,700 soldiers in 2023.[2]

  1. ^ "Japan Self-Defense Force | Defending Japan". Defendingjapan.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 2015-02-16. Retrieved 2014-08-03.
  2. ^ a b International Institute for Strategic Studies (15 February 2023). The Military Balance 2023. London: Routledge. p. 258. ISBN 978-1000910704.
  3. ^ "How to Secure Japan? Put Premium on JSDF Personnel More Than Hardware". JAPAN Forward. 5 March 2019.
  4. ^ Fackler, Martin (16 December 2010). "Japan Announces Defense Policy to Counter China". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 17 December 2010.

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