[War] Japan: "Bushido"

[Ian Martell]

"Bushido"
Defense Minister Taro Inukai
Japan
Aug 2, 2014


To: All Base Commanders and COs of all Japanese vessels.
From: The Office of the Minister of Defense
Re: Bushido

As many of you know many of our troops, especially those assigned to 
Azerbaijan, have taken an interest in Bushido. I feel this is a trend we 
should encourage and shape for the betterment of the JSDF.

As such here are some thoughts that might benefit us today as commanders 
from the time of the Samurai:

1>	Practices is in everything: our ancestors the Samurai, practiced 
constantly, they lived their training. We should emulate this in the JSDF 
and encourage our soldiers to think of every task as training for battle. 
That means how they walk from one pace to the next, how they eat, how they 
fill out a form, everything. It should be done with focus and intent as they 
should act in battle. Additionally, the Japanese warrior arts, in their pure 
and not sporting form should be encouraged as an off duty activity.
2>	Performances of No should not be performed in the castle at night: We 
should follow their example and forbid distractions from our men who are in 
the most danger. As such performances and other entertainments in front line 
areas should be scheduled for day-light hours and only when the risk of 
attack is low. Additionally troops in the field should not be carrying 
entertainment devices as I have heard is the case in some units.
3>	Those retainers who lack special talent or positions but who are 
steadfast should be treated with compassion and understanding: We are in the 
midst of a change of focus in the JSDF, we are no longer 'safer than the 
fire department' as many of our recruits have concluded. We are now a 
fighting army. As such there will be many loyal men who do not have the 
courage to fight but the desire to serve. We should not alienate them; 
instead we must find the right positions for them that will allow them to 
serve with dignity in a support capacity.
4>	Do not give a command post or an administrative position to anyone who 
lacks ability, even if he's family or has served for many years: In short 
use reason not compassion when making promotion decisions. If a poor soldier 
has served many years, do not promote him, find something better for him to 
do in your unit. Let good soldiers move forward and they encourage others to 
follow in their footsteps.
5>	Do not covet swords made by famous masters, a sword worth 10,000 mon, can 
be easily bested by 100 spears worth a 100 mon each:  While our forces are 
technically advanced and full of '10,000 mon swords' we have seen the wisdom 
of this repeated over and over in Afghanistan and Iraq. RPGs, man-launched 
missiles, and the ever present IED, has devastated many of the most advanced 
weapons of our time. While by no means do I suggest we throw off our hard 
won technological advantages we should not loose sight that sometimes the 
simple methods are also effective and they should pursued in our training as 
well as in our tactical and strategic thinking.

Consider these thoughts and see they are distributed throughout your 
commands. As well I am having the Ministry order copies of the Hagakure, Go 
Rin Sho, and the Seventeen Article Injunction of Asakura Toshikage, for wide 
distribution among the JSDF I will expect each of you to read them if you 
haven't already. If you have any thoughts in line with what I have 
presented, please feel free to reply to everyone and share them, rank is not 
an issue in this particular case.

I thank you for your time and attention.

Taro Inukai
Minister of Defense

Actions:

1> Encourage the study of Bushido in the JSDF.
2> Discourage distractions from duty during critical times on the front.
3> Encourage COs to shuffle out the incompetent and those unwilling to 
fight, out of combat units and into support positions better suited to their 
skills and temperament.
4> Encourage alternative thinking about how the JSDF does things, don't 
always default to throw the biggest most expensive weapons at the enemy.
5> Distribute works on Bushido and general military thought from the time of 
the Samurai to the JSDF (Art of War was left off the list since it's 
standard course material at the Defense Academy.)