Japan Military News, Reports, Data, etc.

All four of the names for their new carriers were IJN combat vessels that served in WW II.

Hyuga and Ise were battleships that were converted to hybrid carriers. Izumo was a cruiser. Kaga was, as you point out, a fleet aircraft carrier.

My father fought the Japanese in World War II. But up util the time of his death, as the JMSDF was fielding AEGIS destroyers with WW II names, and contemplating the replacements for the older DDHs, he had no issue with it. Neither do I.

Japan, of course, is a US Ally now, and they have strong naval traditions, and a very squared away navy.

Heck, we had the USS Enterprise for 50 years and are going to build another after the JFK is complete...and the USS Enterprise kicked some serious Japanese A in World War II, and took some serious hits. USS Saratoga for decades was a Forreretal class carrier, named for a vessel that fought the Japanese and was sunk by them. USS Independence and USS Ranger were similar modern US carriers named for those that fought in WW II.

I think most folks recognize the traditions and are fine with it...at least most I know.

Jeff Head said:

All four of the names for their new carriers were IJN combat vessels that served in WW II.

Hyuga and Ise were battleships that were converted to hybrid carriers. Izumo was a cruiser. Kaga was, as you point out, a fleet aircraft carrier.

My father fought the Japanese in World War II. But up util the time of his death, as the JMSDF was fielding AEGIS destroyers with WW II names, and contemplating the replacements for the older DDHs, he had no issue with it. Neither do I.

Japan, of course, is a US Ally now, and they have strong naval traditions, and a very squared away navy.

Heck, we had the USS Enterprise for 50 years and are going to build another after the JFK is complete...and the USS Enterprise kicked some serious Japanese A in World War II, and took some serious hits. USS Saratoga for decades was a Forreretal class carrier, named for a vessel that fought the Japanese and was sunk by them. USS Independence and USS Ranger were similar modern US carriers named for those that fought in WW II.

I think most folks recognize the traditions and are fine with it...at least most I know.

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No arguments here... I'll be the first to say the jmsdf is very squared away. I just mentioned kaga because I personally know of someone's relative that perished from kaga's strike group but as you say that was a loooong time ago but unlike the other namesakes this kaga is also a carrier so a lil bit more similarities.

Jeff Head said:

All four of the names for their new carriers were IJN combat vessels that served in WW II.

Hyuga and Ise were battleships that were converted to hybrid carriers. Izumo was a cruiser. Kaga was, as you point out, a fleet aircraft carrier.

My father fought the Japanese in World War II. But up util the time of his death, as the JMSDF was fielding AEGIS destroyers with WW II names, and contemplating the replacements for the older DDHs, he had no issue with it. Neither do I.

Japan, of course, is a US Ally now, and they have strong naval traditions, and a very squared away navy.

Heck, we had the USS Enterprise for 50 years and are going to build another after the JFK is complete...and the USS Enterprise kicked some serious Japanese A in World War II, and took some serious hits. USS Saratoga for decades was a Forreretal class carrier, named for a vessel that fought the Japanese and was sunk by them. USS Independence and USS Ranger were similar modern US carriers named for those that fought in WW II.

I think most folks recognize the traditions and are fine with it...at least most I know.

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Absolutely, I arrived on Okinawa shortly after IKEs visits and protests as an AFB, we had a young lady named Yashee Koe, who cared for myself and my brother one day a week, while my Mom shopped and ran errands. She was very sweet and kind, managed laundry and ironing as well? So things move on? lots of people would like to harbor old feelings as excuses.

On the other hand, my Dad, Mom, and little brother were driving an old Army jeep, and an Okinawan dude in a Gas truck, ran them off the road into a rice paddy. I'm sure it looked like a scene from the A team, Jeep flying through the rice paddy and "STUFF" flying everywhere!

Funny thing is J. Marlin Martin, USAF, owner of said ex US Army vehicle decided to "wash" it in the Ocean, pulled it in up to its floor boards and proceeded to "broom it off". When it was clean, he jumped into the drivers seat and guess what?? no start, tide was coming in and shortly covered said vehicle. So poor Joe spent the weekend having some men pull his jeep out of the ocean and working on his Jeep, he and I drove the jeep home on a cold, rainy day, I ate all the "tootsie roll suckers" he had in his brief case??? great memory! I think that was one of the few vacations our family ever took??? LOL

Japan Defense Ministry asks for record 5.1 trln yen


due to much lower Yen now than a few years ago (120 vs 75 in 2012), actually in USD the Japanese defense budget is much lower now. And USD is very much relevant in Japanese defense budget


not sure whether this time the Japanese defense budget would exceed 1% of GDP this time, if it is the case it would be a milestone

It's official now.

Japan, U.S. run undersea detection system for Chinese submarines

TOKYO — Japan’s Maritime Self-Defense Force and the U.S. Navy are jointly operating an undersea submarine detection system on the floor of the Pacific side of the Nansei Islands chain including Okinawa as part of efforts to counter China’s rising maritime activities, Kyodo News learned Wednesday.


The latest model of the sound surveillance system, or SOSUS, allows Tokyo and Washington to detect Chinese submarines traveling from the East China Sea and Yellow Sea to the Pacific, according to sources in the Defense Ministry and the MSDF.


It is the first time that the existence of a listening system solely targeting China has been revealed.


As the system is “top secret in the Japan-U.S. security system,” the MSDF explains outlines of the U.S.-developed system only to a group of key figures in the Japanese government including the prime minister and the defense minister..... to read more

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I guess everyone speculated it's existence including myself.

SamuraiBlue said:

It's official now.



I guess everyone speculated it's existence including myself.

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I'm surprised something like this didn't exist already for use against Soviet subs during the cold war...

I'm a little bit amused at the "solely targeting China" part; I'm sure if they happen to catch the submarines of other nations they won't mind either... I wonder how South Korea feels about this as well.

It may be reveal now because it is no longer effective. The original passive SOSUS network has long cease been effective against quiet Soviet nuke boats such as the Akula. Passive low frequency hydrophone are of questionable utility in tracking subs in littoral water. The Japanese network may be effective for long range tracking of noisy boats in the direction facing the open ocean, but would not be effective against boats in the direction facing the continental shelf. Or the Japanese network could be a simple barrier network with upward facing sensors that can detect passing subs but can't track them at long range.

The Us operated Sosus however at the end of the coldwar it was cut back to theater systems. given the current geopolitical it seems likely there may have been some restoration

TerraN_EmpirE said:

The Us operated Sosus however at the end of the coldwar it was cut back to theater systems. given the current geopolitical it seems likely there may have been some restoration

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It wasn't just the end of Cold War that caused the demise of SOSUS. The Soviet boats just got better at isolating the machinery noise that emit at the sound band that SOSUS listens to. the active SURTASS system is much more effective at tracking quiet SSK not running on diesels.