Japanese Self Defense Forces 1955 US Army; The Big Picture

more at http://quickfound.net/

'This week's program will tell the story of how the Japanese people have learned, and are learning, the basic principles of a more "Democratic" way of life.'

Originally a public domain film, slightly cropped to remove uneven edges, with the aspect ratio corrected, and one-pass brightness-contrast-color correction & mild video noise reduction applied.

The soundtrack was also processed with volume normalization, noise reduction, clipping reduction, and/or equalization (the resulting sound, though not perfect, is far less noisy than the original).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Self-Defense_Forces

Wikipedia license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

The Japan Self-Defense Forces (自衛隊 Jieitai), JSDF, also referred to as the Self-Defense Forces (SDF), Japan Defense Forces (JDF), or the Japanese Armed Forces,[9] are the unified military forces of Japan that were established in 1954, and are controlled by the Ministry of Defense. The JSDF ranked as the world's fourth most-powerful military in conventional capabilities in a Credit Suisse report in 2015 and it has the world's eighth-largest military budget. In recent years they have been engaged in international peacekeeping operations including UN peacekeeping.

Recent tensions, particularly with North Korea, have reignited the debate over the status of the JSDF and its relation to Japanese society. New military guidelines, announced in December 2010, will direct the JSDF away from its Cold War focus on the former Soviet Union to a focus on China, especially regarding the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands, while increasing cooperation with the United States, United Kingdom, India, South Korea and Australia...

Deprived of any military capability after being defeated by the Allies in World War II and signing a surrender agreement presented by General Douglas MacArthur in 1945, Japan had only the U.S. occupation forces and a minor domestic police force on which to rely for security. Rising Cold War tensions in Europe and Asia, coupled with leftist-inspired strikes and demonstrations in Japan, prompted some conservative leaders to question the unilateral renunciation of all military capabilities. These sentiments were intensified in 1950 as occupation troops began to be moved to the Korean War (1950–53) theater. This left Japan virtually defenseless, vulnerable, and very much aware of the need to enter into a mutual defense relationship with the United States to guarantee the nation's external security. Encouraged by the American occupation authorities, the Japanese government in July 1950 authorized the establishment of a National Police Reserve (警察予備隊 Keisatsu-yobitai), consisting of 75,000 men equipped with light infantry weapons. In 1952, Coastal Safety Force (海上警備隊 Kaijō Keibitai), the waterborne counterpart of NPR, was also founded.

The Security Treaty Between the United States and Japan was signed on 8 September 1951. The treaty allowed United States forces stationed in Japan to deal with external aggression against Japan while Japanese ground and maritime forces would deal with internal threats and natural disasters. It permitted the United States to act for the sake of maintaining peace in East Asia and exert its power on Japanese domestic quarrels. Accordingly, in mid-1952, the National Police Reserve was expanded to 110,000 men and named the National Safety Forces. The Coastal Safety Force was transferred with it to the National Safety Agency to constitute an embryonic navy.

The trauma of World War II produced strong pacifist sentiments among the nation. In addition, under Article 9 of the United States–written 1947 constitution, Japan forever renounces war as an instrument for settling international disputes...

On July 1, 1954, the National Security Board was reorganized as the Defense Agency, and the National Security Force was reorganized afterwards as the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Army), the Coastal Safety Force was reorganized as the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Navy) and the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (de facto post-war Japanese Air Force) was established as a new branch of JSDF. General Keizō Hayashi was appointed as the first Chairman of Joint Staff Council—professional head of the three branches. The enabling legislation for this was the 1954 Self-Defense Forces Act (Act No. 165 of 1954).

The Far East Air Force, U.S. Air Force, announced on 6 January 1955, that 85 aircraft would be turned over to the fledgling Japanese air force on about 15 January, the first equipment of the new force.

On 19 January 1960, the amended Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan corrected the unequal status of Japan in the 1951 treaty by adding mutual defense obligations...