According to Japan’s Mainichi Shimbun, the Japanese Ministry of Defense attached a QR code that allows access to the Self-Defense Force recruitment website in the recently published 2025 edition of the Children’s Defense White Paper.
Of course, we do not intend to directly recruit elementary school students. Mainichi cited a former Ground Self-Defense Force official as saying, “To be honest, I think there is also a serious manpower shortage problem in the background,” and pointed out that it was ‘preparation for the future.’ This official said, “The civilian salary is much better than that of the Self-Defense Forces, and the Self-Defense Forces are having a very difficult time securing manpower.” He added, “The Ministry of Defense would like (children) to be interested in the Self-Defense Forces and consider it as one of their future career options.”
Keiko Nakamura, a professor at Nagasaki University, also advised, “It is an effective way to make the white paper more noticeable to children and the younger generation and make it natural,” adding, “If interest in the Self-Defense Forces increases, resistance to increases in defense spending, etc. will decrease, and they may grow up feeling the need to increase military power.”
In fact, the number of Japanese Self-Defense Forces members has been decreasing every year since 2020.
According to the 2025 Defense White Paper, the number of Self-Defense Forces members decreased from 232,509 in 2020 to 222,252 in 2024, a decrease of approximately 12,000. This is a decrease of 5.2% of the military force in four years. The Self-Defense Forces set a goal of recruiting 20,000 and 15,000 people in 2023 and 2024, respectively, but actual hiring was only about 10,000 in both years.
https://n.news.naver.com/mnews/article/025/0003494209