Woman qualifies to become fighter jet pilot for 1st time in Japan

Congratulation to First Lieutenant Misa Matsushima. I wish you all the best.

Way to go! Fly high in the sky, and lead others with your courage!

Congratulations, LT.

America has developed some outstanding women fighter pilots and it's great to see Japan starting to do the same. Better late than never.

Good for her and good for Japan.

Nice to see. I hope FL Matsushima's achievement goes really deep into the minds of young (and not so young) women in Japan. She could be that tip of the iceberg Japan's women of all ages need to recognize in themselves. Here's hoping.

Great job! This should be a source of pride for the women of Japan. Hope she gets all the support she needs from the male brass too.

As an ex pilot myself, I don't understand this debacle about women and flying... They are just as good as the men, take the same amount of training and make the same mistakes. There is absolutely no justifiable difference between the two sexes. Unlike in other combat areas (marines, seals, etc), where sheer physical strength and body size do come into play, and where women will be at disadvantage at times, men and women are on equal terms when it comes to flying.

Awesome. Surprised this hasn't happened yet.

That's something special to me. I want to see her in one of those scrambles very frequent these day. Protect us from the sky, lady Misa!

Good development.

Congratulations to FLt Matsushima. This is good news.

Women pilots are less able to pull and sustain 9G.

The difference is negligible and more related to height and weight than just gender. There's no reason to exclude them from any type of aircraft.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/3753357

As a combat arms veteran myself, I have my own concerns about mixed genders in some direct combat units on the ground, but in the air, what's between your legs makes absolutely no difference.

Fly me to the sky ;)

Congratulations F/Lt Matsushima.

This is so cool. Hopefully more to follow.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has called on the nation's corporate world to open leadership positions to women but with little visible success.

"Called on" more like "urged" and everyone knows what a failure that has been. If he truly wants to open leadership positions to women, find positions with in his own cabinet first and more importantly put women that are qualified to do the job in them, and not just window dressings or "it's their turn" in the pecking order!

If you can't get women into leadership positions from within the government FIRST how in the world do you expect the corporate world to follow?

Lead by example, not by your mouth!

Great, so she is the Jeannie Leavitt of Japan. That's pretty cool. Hope she kicks ass in the sky.

They still tolerate the idea that women cannot be Sushi Chefs and the entire society embrace that idea including the gender equality activists.

In America there are still some clods who complain that 'gender equality' will eliminate the father-daughter dances at our schools. That's a disgusting 'tradition' in the first place, so I say BRING ON THE PROGRESS!

OssanAmericaToday 10:52 am JSTCongratulations to FLt Matsushima. This is good news.

Good news indeed. Hope her male brass accept her as an equal. The first female US pilot disciplined for an adulterous affair basically due to explicit sexism. They were looking for something on her.

Women have been in combat (for America) since the 1994 Haiti invasion. There was resistance to the idea here  but no one thinks of it now. Same thing with jet fighter flight. Congratulations to FLt Matsushima. I hope she sets a foundation for more women fighters.

cwhiteToday 01:47 pm JSTLast generation of human fighter pilots. Next gen is all remote + A.I

The US has been fighting a drone war in Yemen since Obama's second term so you may be right!

Great for her! Congratulations! You had a long fight and won. Unfortunately, Japan is still far behind in other gender limited job areas, such as male flight attendants. I'm sure she'll be a great role model for others to follow. Don't let anyone tell you that you can't do anything because of who you are. Those people don't matter.

Gambatte!

Women pilots are less able to pull and sustain 9G.

It doesn't matter whether women are less able to do this or not, it matters whether a given woman is able to do it or not. Denying all women the right to try to become fighter pilots because of this would be bigotry, denying equal opportunity.

How is women in battle controversial? Should women not have the same choice as men to dedicate their lives to their country and fellow citizens?

I am proud of First Lieutenant Matsushima - of her hard work and dedication.

girl_in_tokyoToday  08:37 am JST

How is women in battle controversial? Should women not have the same choice as men to dedicate their lives to their country and fellow citizens?

It is controversial because there exists an ingrained belief among all nations that war is something carried out by men. This undoubtedly goes back to the earliest human history where women and children remained at home in the cave while the man went out and hunted for food or fought with other tribes. The women were to be protected because they could bear and raise children. For the same reason abducting the females of the enemy tribe was commonplace. Fast forward to the 20th century and women are found in the military but in administrative or nurse roles. Now women are officers, doctors, what have you. Women first became pilots in support roles but now can be fighter pilots. Warships can have women Captains. The key here is that much of modern warfare is conducted to a great extent with equipment, vehicles etc that do not rely on on mass or individual strength. But women are now found in combat roles as well. So this "controversy" for the most part really has to do with historical bias on the part of men more than anything else. Hope this helps.

Amazing news! I would love to see more young girls enrolling in Japanese military in front line rolls. Women can do anything in Japan!

Good progress and good for her! But Japan is still way far behind regarding sexual inequality , why? They still  tolerate the idea that women cannot be Sushi Chefs and the entire society embrace that idea including  the  gender equality activists.

Congrats!

Excellent.

Last generation of human fighter pilots. Next gen is all remote + A.I

It will provide the opportunity to encounter larger opponents and the ability to cover remote islands constantly.

GREAT!!! If I could, I would give her an F-22!!!

We don't need armies.

I guess somebody forgot to tell that to North Korea and China.

The event of women getting killed in combat in warzone and returning home in a body bag can be controversial.

Actually anyone getting killed in combat and coming back in a coffin is very controversial, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Go woman ! ^^

I feel the need... the need for speed :)

As a combat arms veteran myself, I have my own concerns about mixed genders in some direct combat units on the ground, but in the air, what's between your legs makes absolutely no difference.

As a veteran myself I know what you mean. Women were first in combat during the invasion of Haiti in 1994. Soldiers wore urban warfare armor that hid everything - including breasts. Local people nicknamed the US forces 'ninja turtles' because of the armor.

ebisenAug. 25 02:19 pm JST

The event of women getting killed in combat in warzone and returning home in a body bag can be controversial.

Actually anyone getting killed in combat and coming back in a coffin is very controversial, I have no idea what you're talking about.

Not really. There's nothing controversial about men being sent home in body bags or coffins from combat. In principle that's been going on for as long as there has been combat and we progressed from leaving our dead, to burying our dead, to bringing them home. The actual cause and reasons for the conflict itself has in many cases been "controversial" at least since Vietnam in the U.S.

That is completely different from the controversial aspects of women fatalities in combat being sent home in bodybags.

We don't need armies.

as a feminist, just want to know the ratio.

This is actually a pretty sad story.

Japan's neighbors China(2012), Korea(2002), and North Korea(2015) all had female fighter pilots long before Japan did.

Japan is the last country to have opened this opportunity to women and illustrates Japan's deep-rooted gender inequality that still strongly discriminates against women.

@ebisen

I don't understand this debacle about women and flying.

The event of women getting killed in combat in warzone and returning home in a body bag can be controversial.

Women pilots are less able to pull and sustain 9G. In close-in dogfight, this can be fatal. Flying cargo jets and other large support planes is fine, but not the fighter jets.

How many are men?