June 23, 2023
Colloquium Topic: The Case for Japanese Land Power in the First Island Chain
Japan’s geographical position is unique. The fault line between the free world and the authoritarian one runs through the west of the first island chain – the Japanese archipelago that interlocks with Taiwan and then down to the Philippines. Japan finds itself on the frontline of free nations at the very moment of heightened confrontation between the United States and China. Japan’s three strategic documents, released at the end of 2022, are its response to the deteriorating regional and global security situations, especially exemplified by all the events that took place across the world in 2022. One of these new documents, the National Defense Strategy, specifically lays out the future capabilities and posture that the Japan Self-Defense Forces will develop over the next 10 years.
Scrutinizing these documents reveals that the Japan Self-Defense Forces’ land component, the Ground Self-Defense Force, is the service that will undergo the most significant transformation in the coming decade compared to the rest of the Japanese military. In light of the operational problems the Japan Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military need to address, a new Ground Self-Defense Force could play a key role in enabling not only Japan’s own joint operations but also bilateral operations with the U.S. military along the first island chain. This rediscovered significance of Japanese ground forces presents a set of challenges for the Japanese and U.S. militaries to tackle together to respond to contingencies.
Colloquium Speaker: Yusuke KAWACHI
A native of Kyoto, Japan, Colonel Yusuke Kawachi is an artillery officer in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force with command experience of a surface-to-ship missile battery. He currently serves as the military attaché at the Embassy of Japan in Washington, D.C. His previous assignment was the Chief Bilateral Operation Coordinator at the Bilateral Coordination Department of the Ground Component Command Headquarters at Camp Zama in Kanagawa, Japan. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Tokyo and holds master’s degrees from the University of Tokyo, the United States Marine Corps University, and the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies.