Citation

Frühstück S, Ben-Ari E. J. Jpn. Stud. 2002; 28(1): 1-39.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2002, Society for Japanese Studies)

DOI

10.2307/4126774

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Based on a diverse set of sources, the authors argue that since the end of the cold war the SDF has begun to use a complex set of strategies to actively address its problematic status in contemporary Japanese society and to manage its connection to organized violence in new ways. These strategies range from details of language and uniforms to aspects of body comportment; the control, regulation, and aestheticization of information about the SDF for public consumption; policies related to recruitment; the creation of an organizational history; activities that project intimacy and similarity with civil society by consciously adopting roles that do not pertain to the use of organized violence; attempts at linking the SDF to international efforts of goodwill; and the cultivation of multiple ties to the U.S. Armed Forces.