Sunday May 27, 2012

Reviewing his troops

Picture of the Day ( 27 )

Picture expired.
AP

Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda reviews members of the Japan Self-Defense Force (SDF) during the annual Self-Defense Forces Commencement of Air Review at Hyakuri Air Base, Ibaraki Prefecture, on Sunday.

Back to top

Order by Time Order by Popularity

27 Comments

Login to comment

  • -1

    Notthesame

    All those flags need to be tossed in the dumpster. Making the Hinomaru official was yet another milestone in the slow march back to the 1930s.

  • -3

    sunhawk

    japan needs to go back to the 1930s a little. right now japan is full of a bunch of black suited apology drones.

  • 1

    CrazyJoe

    This was the flag of the Imperial Japanese Navy. The Imperial Japanese Army version had the sun in the center.

  • -3

    BurakuminDes

    Noda certainly comes across as a nationalist, militarist PM in this pic. Is Japan going to expand it's military under his leadership - that is the question? BTW - the open Toyota is a nice copy of a convertaible Merc S-Class - I like it!

  • -2

    CrazyJoe

    Is that a roll bar that Noda is holding?

  • 5

    Jared Norman

    I don't see a problem with this, respect the jsdf

  • -8

    Kentaro75

    This is good scene for us Japanese. We hope Japan keeps support of military and stands up to all North and south korea, Taiwan, china and russia bullies. Powerfull Japan with big military means stable Asia. Good job Mr Noda, better than weak and too terrible Kan!

  • -3

    Disillusioned

    Which country's flag is that? I thought the hinamaru was made the national flag in the mid 90's.

  • -2

    Kabukilover

    Powerful Japan. Ha, ha ha. Vulnerable Japan is more like it. The more Japan militarizes the more vulnerable it becomes because the more enemies it makes out people who would prefer to have Japan as a friend.

    Anyway, I do hope Japan does something about its flags if nothing else. That Navy flag, now used by the right-wing sound truck terrorists, is the flag of bad moves gone catastrophic and of defeat. It is a losers' flag, like the Stars n' Bars.

    The irony is that since World War II Japan has not been a loser. Even in the lost two decades of stagnation it has remained a top flight domestic economy (as opposed to the American warfare state for instance).

    Japan has made conquests with Seiko, Nikon, Fuji Film, etc. and with animae, Kurosawa, etc. You know what Japan's warfare state created? Nothing but misery. Under the prewar Showa regime the arts were killed, along with a lot of innocent people. There is nothing, absolutely nothing created at that time that is of any lasting value. Just a lot of destruction and a whole lot of lies.

    Unfortunately, the fecal conservative mentality that has been running this country (the DPJ is little different from the LDP) cannot see any of this.

    Thank goodness for Article 9 anyway.

  • -1

    smithinjapan

    Ummm... did they make a mistake with the nation's flag? or did they willingly wish to go back to the time when Japan was amongst the worst nations in the world in terms of crimes against humanity?

  • -1

    zichi

    There are no "troops" in Japan, just special civil servants who are members of the Self Defense Force.

  • 0

    BurakuminDes

    @Zichi - yep, pretty much true from what I read. These JSDF guys and girls are kinda Freeters in a sense, the Govt. has trouble hanging onto them because the pay is not competitive and apparently they just walk out if/when they get a better job offer from a private company. The ones with no prospects I guess hang around.

  • 1

    Jared Norman

    every country has the right to defense

  • 0

    Johannes Weber

    Sorry, I never get the feeling that military parades are amazing. If anything, it creates the impression of a leader without a plan, who who longs for simple answers like they seem to lie in military solutions. Not a leader that has a vision. Or a plan. Basically, not a leader at all. Achieving stability in foreign policy through strong military is a relic from the 19th century that led to two World Wars.

  • 0

    zichi

    BurakuminDes,

    they can leave any time they wish. No military code, no court marshals, no military prisons, no military secrets....

  • 1

    Geoff Gillespie

    As I look into my crystal ball, I see a republican government in America pulling US soldiers out of Europe, the middle east and Japan by mid 2013, article 9 in the trash can by the middle of 2014 and conscription in force in Japan very soon after. Yeah, baby, Nihon's on the rise again...

    ...well, I can dream, can't I?

  • 0

    BurakuminDes

    article 9 in the trash can by the middle of 2014 and conscription in force in Japan very soon after. Yeah, baby, Nihon's on the rise again

    I'm no Militarist - far from it - but yeah, conscription may just give the 18-40 year old men here the kick in the pants they sorely need to get this country going again. Slap 'em around a bit, rough them up, and drag them away from their video games for the good of Nihon!

  • -1

    gogogo

    Noda who?

  • -1

    sunhawk

    10 year old car? luxury! i still drive a Nissan Silvia from 1995. looks and drives just as good as it does the day it left the factory.

    some compulsory military service might do the country good. get all those 18-22 year olds that aren't in university or full time employment into the the JGSDF. a few years of service to Emperor and Country will do them well.

  • -1

    Triumvere

    Huh. Didn't know they still used those flags.

  • -3

    jackieng

    Powerfull Japan with big military means stable Asia.

    haha yea right. and so was nazi germnay in europe...

  • 0

    Badge213

    Folks, for those not familiar with uniforms and flags, Noda in this particular photograph (and we all know how photographs don't show the whole picture) is passing inspection of Maritime Self Defense troops (aka The NAVY), he just finished inspecting the Ground Self Defense Force troops (pictured to the left).

    He is passing in front of the Martime Self Defense Force color guard, which is flying the flag/"ensign" of the Martime Self Defense Force, the MSDF's flag's sun is offset to the side with 16 rays compared to the wartime flag of Japan which had a centered flag. The GSDF flag has 8 rays.

  • 0

    Badge213

    They've been using those flags in the SDF since 1954.

  • 0

    zichi

    If the members of the Self Defense Forces are only civil servants, then you can't have conscription. That would require a military.

  • 2

    BlueWitch

    @Kentaro75

    This is good scene for us Japanese. We hope Japan keeps support of military and stands up to all North and south korea, Taiwan, china and russia bullies. Powerfull Japan with big military means stable Asia. Good job Mr Noda, better than weak and too terrible Kan!

    No, not us Japanese, only YOU. Here at home everyone is Japanese and no one would agree with you, so please, do not speak in the name of everyone in this country. Japan does not need military. We shouldn't repeat past mistakes never again. No more war! period.

    @sunhawk

    10 year old car? luxury! i still drive a Nissan Silvia from 1995. looks and drives just as good as it does the day it left the factory.

    Nissan Sylvia? Have you been to Tsukuba-Yama? The red RX-8 with the black Sparco bucket seats is mine. I go there every now and then. It's good as long as the cops are not around bothering people.

  • 1

    Triumvere

    My ignorance gets a thumbs down? Fair enough, I guess.

  • 0

    gaijinfo

    That's a nice looking top hat homeboy is holding..

Back to top

Login to leave a comment

OR

Follow us

Facebook
Twitter

Previous pictures of the day

View all

View all