SDF museum and PR center in Shibuya closes

"We hope to do some other kind of PR activity like this again in the future" ... but from July 2008, around 10,000 people visited (some including their parents). Guess Japan needs to think of another PR strategy.

Kind of hard to compete with Yushukan, that enormous museum adjacent to the Yasukuni Shrine, which unapologetically extolls certain individuals who probably don't deserve the honour.

Pity this place has closed down. As somebody who did a stint as an army recruiting officer many years ago, it would have been interesting to see how the oft-maligned Japanese Self Defense Forces approached this problem.

Then again, it is pretty hard to get people on the recruiting track through casual drop-ins. Back in the day (I was responsible for officer-candidate recruiting), we had a much easier time working directly with schools. However, considering how the military as a career is looked down upon in Japan, I reckon it would be pretty tough to get bxms on seats in this country.

Take some of the construction budget used in Japan and apply it to other things like you guys.

PR center in Shibuya

Pfffffffft... they just don't get it do they? I can think of one worse place to put this recruitment centre, it's THE IKE.

Seriously though, they should start building these centres over in Shitamachi, Northern Osaka, Kyushu and Kochi where traces of Yamato-manhood apparently still exist (I know, hard to believe!)

timorborder, I did some of the same type of recruting a long time ago. It is hard, but I think if they just believe that one walk in a musem would get people to join, they need to fire their marketing people.

I think if they maybe made more movies with a positive spin on the exploits of the SDF (like Top Gun, Flight of the Intruder) would probably do wonders, but alas that SDF does not do such things.

a lot of people in their 20s and 30s, some of whom came in with their parents

I hope these people did not have their parents pay for their way in. Can 20 & 30 year olds not make a move without family involvement?

we heard that some people did enlist after they visited us

lol, great work

It's always going to be hard to convince teens to consider joining a "Defense Force". It just doesn't have the same lure to a young man as joining an "Attack Squadron" or "Strike Team". "Attacking" will always beat "Defending" in the eyes of a teen.

The facility was opened in July 2008 to try to increase the appeal of the SDF to young people and expedite recruiting.

Amusement lasted for less than two year ! Temporary Museum..only in Japan.

Wish I had known about this place BEFORE it closed down. I teach English at the NDA and personally, I am really impressed by the teenagers who decide to join. It is a really TOUGH lifestyle, yet so many of them get through it and thrive. Maybe it is because they do not have to look forward to killing people like my own USA forces do.

10000 people in 2 years? More people visit the Shibuya koban in 2 days. Perhaps they should have SDF members staff the Koban if they want to make an impression on the public.

there was an SDF museum in shibuya?

actually sounds more like a typical recruitment centre from the description given