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Japan The Defense Agency
The Defense Agency, as part of the Office of the Prime
Minister, is required by Article 66 of the constitution to
be
completely subordinate to civilian authority. Its head,
the
director general, has the rank of minister of state. He is
assisted
by two vice directors general (vice ministers), one
parliamentary
and one administrative; the Defense Facilities
Administration
Agency; and the internal bureaus
(see
fig. 12). The
highest figure
in the command structure is the prime minister, who is
responsible
directly to the Diet. In a national emergency, the prime
minister
is authorized to order the various components of the SDF
into
action, subject to the consent of the Diet. In times of
extreme
emergency, that approval might be obtained after the fact.
In July 1986, the Security Council was established. The
council
is presided over by the prime minister and includes the
ministers
of state specified in advance in Article 9 of the Cabinet
Law; the
foreign minister, the finance minister, the chief cabinet
secretary, the chairman of the National Public Safety
Commission,
the director general of the Defense Agency, and the
director
general of the Economic Planning Agency. The chairman of
the
Security Council also can invite the chairman of the Joint
Staff
Council and any other relevant state minister or official
to
attend. Replacing the National Defense Council, which had
acted as
an advisory group on defense-related matters since 1956,
the
Security Council addresses a wider range of military and
nonmilitary security issues, including basic national
defense
policy, the National Defense Program Outline, the outline
on
coordinating industrial production and other matters
related to the
National Defense Program Outline, and decisions on
diplomatic
initiatives and defense operations.
The internal bureaus, especially the Bureau of Defense
Policy,
Bureau of Finance, and the Bureau of Equipment, are often
headed by
officials from other ministries and are the main centers
of power
and instruments of civilian control in the Defense Agency.
The
Bureau of Defense Policy is responsible for drafting
defense policy
and programs, for determining day-to-day operational
activities,
and for information gathering and analysis in the SDF. The
Bureau
of Finance is instrumental in developing the Defense
Agency budget
and in establishing spending priorities for the Defense
Agency and
the SDF. The Bureau of Equipment, organized into subunits
for each
of the military services, focuses on equipment
procurement. Before
any major purchase is recommended to the Diet by the
Defense
Agency, it has to be reviewed by each of these bureaus.
Below these civilian groups is the uniformed SDF. Its
senior
officer is the chairman of the Joint Staff Council, a body
that
included the chiefs of staff of the ground, maritime, and
air arms
of the Self-Defense Forces. Its principal functions are to
advise
the director general and to plan and execute joint
exercises. The
three branches maintain staff offices to manage operations
in their
branches. Although rank establishs echelons of command
within the
SDF, all three branches are immediately responsible to the
director
general and are coequal bodies with the Joint Staff
Council and the
three staff offices.
This structure precludes the concentration of power of
the pre1945 general staffs, but it impedes interservice
coordination, and
there are few formal exchanges among commanders from
various
branches. Moreover, some dissatisfaction has been reported
by highranking officers who feel they have little power compared
with
younger civilian officials in the bureaus, who most often
have no
military experience. To rectify this situation and to
increase
input by the SDF in policy matters, in the early 1980s the
Joint
Staff Council was enlarged to establish better lines of
communication between the internal bureaus and the three
staff
offices. A computerized central command and communications
system
and various tactical command and communications systems
were
established, linking service and field headquarters with
general
headquarters at the Defense Agency and with one another.
In the 1980s, efforts were also under way to facilitate
a clear
and efficient command policy in the event of a crisis. The
government stood by the principle that military action was
permitted only under civilian control, but in recognition
that
delay for consultation might prove dangerous, ships of the
MSDF
began to be armed with live torpedoes, and
fighter-interceptors
were allowed to carry missiles at all times. Although
aircraft had
long been allowed to force down intruders without waiting
for
permission from the prime minister, ships were still
required to
receive specific orders before interdicting invading
vessels. The
Defense Agency had recommended drawing up more complete
guidelines
to clarify what action SDF combat units could take in
emergencies.
Cooperation between the SDF and other civilian agencies
in
contingency planning is limited. No plans exists to ensure
the
support of civilian aircraft and merchant fleets in times
of
crisis, even though the SDF transportation capabilities
are
generally judged inadequate. In 1990 legislation was being
studied
to provide the SDF with the ability to respond in
emergency
situations not specifically covered by Article 76 of the
SelfDefense Forces Law.
SDF training includes instilling a sense of mission.
Personnel
are provided with the scientific and technical education
to operate
and maintain modern equipment and with the physical
training
necessary to accomplish their missions.
Modern equipment is gradually replacing obsolescent
matériel in
the SDF. In 1987 the Defense Agency replaced its
communications
system (which formerly had relied on telephone lines of
the Nippon
Telegraph and Telephone Corporation) with a microwave
network
incorporating a three-dimensional transmission system
using a
communications satellite. Despite efforts to increase
stocks,
however, supplies of ammunition and maintenance and repair
parts in
1990 remained at less than satisfactory levels.
Data as of January 1994
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