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Japan Self-Defense Forces
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Flag of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force featuring a red sun with eight red and white rays on a square field bordered in gold. Flag of Japan's Maritime Self-Defense Force featuring a red sun with sixteen red rays extending outward on a white background. JSDF briefing in Kyushu, 1956 Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force helicopter carrier Izumo sails away from its Yokosuka Base in Kanagawa Prefecture. Japanese and Philippine troops, displaying the Japanese flag and holding with their firearms, pose for photographs during a counter-landing live-fire exercise as part of the annual Balikatan joint military drills in Philippines.
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Flag of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force featuring a red sun with eight red and white rays on a square field bordered in gold.
Flag of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF)

Japan Self-Defense Forces

Japanese military
Also known as: JSDF
Written by
Chris Hughes
Chris Hughes
Fact-checked by
Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
History

Branches of the Japan Self-Defense Forces Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), Japan’s increasingly advanced and capable military, charged with ensuring the country’s peace and security. They consist of the Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF), Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF), and Air Self-Defense Force (ASDF). The JSDF were founded in 1954 in the aftermath of Japan’s total defeat in the Pacific War, which resulted in the U.S.-led Allied occupation (1945–52) and an initial process of demilitarization. The imperial armed...

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