70 Japanese volunteer to fight for Ukraine against Russia

answering foreign military recruitment could run afoul of Japanese law against preparing or plotting to wage war privately on a foreign country.

Japanese citizen can not do that privately, need to be approved using many hankos from many officials to make it officially that nation in war and got specific order come from the top.

Going to war with Russia is going to war with China.... Do not enter into this war... You are framed to do this... Look what is going behind the curtain .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EZ7toz8ZgVQ

Good for those who volunteered, respect their honourable intent but unless they have military training or experience they are politely refused by the Ukrainians from what I have read in Ukrainian media. Given Japanese law, I can understand the removal of the post. Courageous individuals who quietly take them selves off to join up are another matter.

Ex service men from a number of countries are apparently on their way to help the Ukrainians.

Englisc,when you headed over

Good for them, doing whatever they can to play a small part in helping free Ukraine from the fascist invaders Russia.

I hope and pray for their safety, and that of all Ukrainians and foreign freedom fighters.

This is what is happening if the leader of the free world is weak and stupid ... Japanese should not involve in this war.... Next Soon China will invade Taiwan before the current US president in power... Japanese should take care own nation. Do not rely on Biden

Stay away from Ukraine ..

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOVG1U-iXJw

They wanted to stop war by volunteering to go to war ?

Clearly over compensation for a condominium complex.

Dangerous radical Japanese putting the entire country in danger of war between Russia and Japan.

Bad idea.

Japan is too involved in the war already.

Best to stay out of it and be silent.

Stop following USA guidance.

War is hell, an hell hath no fury as Putin been scorned by Ukraine

Most are ex JSDF members. Japan can not stop them going but if they go, Russia could take it as Japan is sending troops to fight and then retaliate. It is very risky for Japan. But I believe the Japanese law has and article that makes them under arrest when they will be back.

In the past, Japan has arrested some guys wanting to go to Syria

By calling for volunteers, Ukraine will create a jihad country,

They wanted to stop war by volunteering to go to war ?

There are two ways to stop a war. Capitulate to the aggressor, or defeat him.

People should be free to volunteer for any cause including combat, if Japan ever gets into a war and needs help many foreign volunteers will be joining the fight on behalf of Japan, so why not Japanese join the fight for Ukraine!? it's not about LAW, it's about the fear of Russian retaliation.

Hopefully a lot of good personnel and equiptment is pouring into Ukraine to support them against invasion.

If Putin is successful in Ukraine, Maldova is the next independent country to fall, plans are already in place. So does the world 'mind its own business' and give up Ukraine & then Maldova (similar as it did to Hitler), or does the world stand up the psychotic/delusional bully this time before it spirals out of control. Many things I posted about several days has come true... even the posts that were deleted by moderators... volunteers, freedom fighters, and weapons flooding into Ukraine.

At some point each person, each of US may have to decide 'what if that were my country being invaded by Putin, my friends, my family suffering & dying'. Hopefully it doesnt come to this but simply ignoring Putins war, wont be an option for any of us if war continues to spread in Europe. Yes, I am beginning to lose sleep.

btw - China is watching who stands up & who remains seated

@Beerdeliveryguy

Thats not the only way to stop war !

Think about it.

A more sophisticated way for suicide? Other groups make a bbq in a tape closed car. But in fact one cannot comment on this, maybe only one thing, stupidity has no limits. And that war as well the reactions and consequences show and prove that quite impressively.

I have a 4LDK here, 2 rooms I really never use . I would be happy to welcome any of them here into my home .

@Beerdeliveryguy

Thats not the only way to stop war !

Think about it.

If you are on the receiving end of an aggressive dictator, I’m afraid it is.

Sadly for you, all the flowers and tea in the world won’t stop a war of aggression.

When your country is being invaded, you either pick up a gun, or drop your pants.

the best situation seems to be a negotiated surrender with Zelensky quitting to be replaced with someone who won't try to enter NATO

The world is thankful most people in Europe did not have your meek, surrendering mindset in the time of Hitler.

Independence of nations - with democratically elected governments - and freedom of their people is NEVER negotiable.

This war surly beginning to look like the Chechen war 1994 ~ 1995 and the battle for Grozny, I pray for the people of the Ukraine and I am hopping that with NATO and the rest of the world help they will be able to defend and keep their nation, something that Chechenia did not get.

IMHO, they'd be better off staying home to defend their homeland because there's now more chance of Russian attacks on Japanese territory than ever. We also now know Putin's modus operandi is inflicting pain first, negotiate later.

With China propping up Putin, China 'may' request a bargain for its support of Putin, the bargain being Japan, the only power in the western pacific that could credibly come to Taiwan's aid.

A more sophisticated way for suicide

Suicide is the ultimate selfish act.

Volunteering to go help defend another nation from an international madman is the ultimate act of selflessness.

There seems to be a lot lower forms of selfishness on display in the comments here.

They are not brave but just naive... To begin with, SDF enlisted are typically not very educated people... How did you even communicate with others!? Zero Ukrainian and very little English. To avoid causing further trouble and for your own safety, better give up direct involvement...

To begin with, SDF enlisted are typically not very educated people... 

Ahhh the typical narrative of, “if you don’t get good grades, you’ll end up in the army.”

Even the “stupid crayon-eating jarhead” US Marines have a surprisingly high number of college/university graduates and MB, Phd holders.

there’s more info the media is talking about. So before you volunteer you might want to know how they got to where they are now.

https://www.facebook.com/100000560311585/posts/5533482060013750/?extid=0&d=n

Japan is truly a reliable and respectable country.

Awesome to know that this country still have real men left.

"wanting to stop war as a Japanese,"

ironic

Brave people！！！

Really !!???...

(facepalm)...

This is not your war Japan...

Going to the other side of the world to play the "world hero" and fight in a war that is NOT YOURS is the stupidest thing someone can do in life...

I really hope they can get back home safe..

Not in a casket..

This is not your war Japan..

This is a slavic war caused by the greed of US-NATO SINCE 2014..

This is not your war Japan

It's not Japan, it's 70 individuals who happen to be Japanese nationals.

70 out of a population of 130 million....perhaps they have some personal tie to Ukraine?

I wish them luck, hope they stay safe and help kick Mad Vlad's arse back to kingdom come.

@TokyoLiving, you can't tell people what they can't and cannot do. If people want to fight for someone else and lay down their life for their beliefs, it's their choice. Is why we call it volunteers. But they won't able to leave anyway considering the air space is completely close off.

I appreciate their venture. I am hoping a few of them will certainly consider going to Palestine also.

Thomas Goodtime

"wanting to stop war as a Japanese,"

As a Japanese what? I wish they would be a little clearer.

Seriously? Do you not know that, in addition to being an adjective, the word "Japanese" is also a noun denoting a person from Japan?

What did you think they are called, "Japanians"?

Fools.

I'd like to see the venn diagram for men who use the word woke and admiration for Putin. Just a circle I'm guessing.

this is the power of the social media.

Japanese people should stay here and be ready to fight. An invasion could happen here the way this world is now.

This is exactly what Russia wanted for other nationality to join in the war. Make them understand that by volunteering, Japan will no longer be responsible for their well being. If captured, Japan should never negotiate with Russia for their returns.

Although the need to protect their own country is very very understandable, you cannot ignore the fact that Ukraine has actually done what terrorists do... A global call for recruiting fighters to join their cause is what terrorist organizations do...

I bet most these 70 would have been willing to join in even if the call was for a Jihadist organization. Haven't we heard of people from different nations the joining fight alongside ISIS?

The leader of the free world has thrown Ukraine under the bus so it's up to the people to do what it's right.

answering foreign military recruitment could run afoul of Japanese law against preparing or plotting to wage war privately on a foreign country.

Legally speaking, I don't see any problems here. The case would be different if Japan was at war with Ukraine and a Japanese national who is a member of the JSDF would start fighting for the other side as this would be a violation of 自衛隊法第122条 (敵前逃亡/Desertation)

However, I don't think that the current JSDF members are that well trained in combat (compared to their pre '45 counterparts) so it would be a wise decision not to go.

Real men?

'Real' men, can make decisions for themselves, they do not need to bow down to a tough daddy figure even though he's got nukes and has shown he's willing to kill those who do not follow him. Real men do not bow down to the Hitlers and Stalins, nor do they march along blindly with others in whichever cult of personality. Many males who followed along in cults of personality blindly following a 'strong' leader have shown they are in fact cowards. And if they make it through whichever battle they've marched themselves into say afterwards, "I was just doing my job, I did not know that switch turned the gas on," or maybe "I didn't know those Vietnamese women and children were not armed".

the embassy now seeking volunteers to aid in such fields as medicine, disaster prevention, information technology and communications.

I'm 100% certain that you could volunteer in those fields, but once you arrive in Ukraine, you would be given an AK or perhaps even a Stinger if you know how to use it.

They should fight the Russians in the Northern Territories instead .

They’re brave. I have to confess that I’m a bit of a chicken, especially after watching the Russian roulette scene in the “Deer Hunter”.

YrralToday 07:18 am JST

"Englisc,when you headed over" [sic]

If you are unable to address the message, do not attack the messenger.

what volunteers?

why you are afraid to use term mercenaries?

they have no idea about Ukraine whatsoever-why going there to make situation for Japan-russian relationship much worse?

do you understand about possible consequences?

The word stupid does no even come close to being a descript for potential mercenaries.

Let alone, any understanding of the complexity that underlies the current malaise in the Ukraine.

https://www.counterpunch.org/2022/02/28/crisis-over-ukraine-a-primer/print/

One very simple denotation: the ability to speak Ukrainian or Russian or any of the other languages spoken in the Ukraine, would be a key element for a mercenary:

https://www.counterpunch.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/map-description-automatically-generated.png.

There are mercenary organizations currently seeking 'applicants'.

They should fight the Russians in the Northern Territories instead

The Russian sent a military helicopter into northern Japanese airspace this morning...you're on the money!

So the Russians invaded Ukraine, without any resistance from the Ukrainian army. And with all the media pomp what a patriotic spirit they have? Do not say that the Ukrainian army does not have the equipment to fight. It is just a sign that someones interest is that the war will drag on, people will suffer, and some will get very rich. You can read Yenki like a book.

Most of Asia had Portuguese mercenaries fight their wars in the 19th century. Got to love the lapse in memory from some of the commentators.

The Russians won't take any prisoner of war. Don't cries if you guys got caught!

How does a motley group of volunteers from Japan and all over the world go to Ukraine and manage to integrate themselves into the Ukrainian armed forces without becoming a liability rather than an asset? The lack of any common language skills, other than varying degrees of competence in English 

there’s been a foreign battalion established for many years now. It was nearly 15,000 strong, but probably a lot more now.

Most of the soldiers were Russian (they hate PooTin)

Many others are from ex-soviet countries (they hate Russia), but there are also many from western countries in Europe, Nth America & Australia.

War & fighting has a common language - everyone knows what needs to be done

@beerdeliveryguy

It doesn't take a massive amount of brain cells to walk away from a fight or invasion you cant win.

Your still not thinking clearly !

No its Not about flowers and that crap !

They could have left the area and nobody would have died.

But unfortunately they wanted a battle.

So people are dead and dying and it continues.

Its stupid .

@eastman

what volunteers?

why you are afraid to use term mercenaries?

you do know the difference between a ‘volunteer’ & a ‘mercenary’, right ?

Just in case, I’ll dumb it down for you ;

volunteer = works for free

mercenary = gets paid

one is doing it because morally, it’s the right thing

the other is doing it for the money

People are dead so both sides lost .

Ridiculous pathetic attempts at diplomacy did absolutely nothing but make it worse.

It is suicide mission in the guise of chivalry.

MarkToday 08:48 am JST

This war surly beginning to look like the Chechen war 1994 ~ 1995

I wish it was. We are in fact at the brink of WW3. People still don't fully grasp the grave prospect. This war

is tearing apart the post WW2 world. For example Europe and Russia have closed airspace to each other, this used to be considered an act of war

Do people here know what the Ukraine government has done in the past?

What the president did to it's opposition ? I suggest you look it up?

Well I tried googling 'Ukrainian politics since 2019' (that being the time Zelensky became President, you mentioned the President specifically) and I can't see that he's 'done' anything heinous to the opposition.

What should I be looking for?

This is a slavic war caused by the greed of US-NATO 

that’s the pathetic excuse many PooTin lovers are using - this invasion of a sovereign country & the deaths of innocent women & children is the the US-NATO’s fault

War is hell

no, war isn’t hell - war is war & hell is hell

They could have left the area and nobody would have died.

so if you were president, you’d have lay down the red carpet for the Russian army, & give them the keys to the country, with no resistance at all. There’s a word for that type of person.

Do people here know what the Ukraine government has done in the past?

so that justifies the killing of innocent women & children ? With that logic, how many other countries should be invaded & their citizens murdered ?

This is what happens in Japan when you don’t teach history to your people. Japan was a fascist country. FULL STOP.

It’s not me saying it it’s a fact of history. You can attack “Koreans, zainichi, and gyopos” but it will not change history.

And certainly not teaching it will not change history either.

That reputation will still take a long time to be erased. Japanese should offer humanitarian help especially to neighboring countries NOT take up weapons and go kill more non-Japanese.

This is what happens in Japan when you don’t teach history to your people.

what a load of rubbish.

they want to volunteer because they believe in the cause - freedom. Not because of what they did or didn’t learn at school.

I am dumfounded at the courage displayed by these volunteers.

nothing in your post refutes what I said about the difficulties of integrating inexperienced fighters who would need to work as an integrated unit to defeat a professional Army (that's the Russians) in a real fight.

Most of those going have military experience. There are many hand signals used that are almost universal among soldiers that are used during patrols and combat when voices cant be heard anyway. Your right, it is not optimal, but they need defenders able and willing to use military hardware to stop the Russians, many of who are half hearted conscripts.

If the only thing standing between a town of civilians who cant get out is 5,000 foreign fighters with military experience, your going to take it. Any you will be extremely thankful.

Regardless of whether they areceventuallycallowed to go, that is a very selfless and generous offer, reminiscent of the Spanish civil war between fascists and socialists, when concerned people from other countries, including the evritish author George Orwell, went to Spain and fought on the socialist side with the Catalans. Good luck to them if they go.

What I object to is people (not you) sounding off like old-time recruiting sergeants spouting slogans to try to get the boys to waste their lives going off to fight in a foreign war about which they most likely do not have a clue.

Not all those who turn up are sent to fight. People with experience driving trucks are transporting people and goods. Still need to be armed for self protection but not sent to the front as cannon fodder. People with usable skills are being used in those areas apparently. Those who have military experience may have it in catering or signals or logistics or mechanics. All needed to fight a war. Those with experience in Infantry, Artillery, Engineering or Armor will be used in a way that gives the best effect. The Ukraine military has had years of experience and want to win so they will not send volunteers immediately to the front to fight without first finding if they can actually do anything useful.

Those going who have no skills useful in war fighting may as well stay home, your right that they will be more trouble than they are worth.

gotta hand it to the volunteers. As misguided and naive as they are, they put their money where their mouths are.

Id invite any one of the many keyboard warriors spoiling for war to do the same.

A potential invasion of Taiwan colours everything the Japanese government does and says regarding Ukraine. A Chinese invasion of the island would be devastating for Japan.

@bigyen

https://coffeeordie.com/foreign-fighters-ukraine-russian-invasion/

this may be a bit too deep for you, but

who goes to Hell ? Sinners - only bad guys

There are no innocent bystanders in Hell.

War, however, is full of them - kids, cripples, old ladies. In fact, except for some of the brass, almost everybody involved in war is an innocent bystander.