picture of the day

Inspecting the troops

10 Comments

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Defense Minister Tomomi Inada review an honor guard at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo on Monday.

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how can they all be EXACTLY the same height???

4 ( +5 / -1 )

how can they all be EXACTLY the same height???

It's an illusion really, heel inserts, adjusting the hats they wear, any number of tricks.

Personally speaking if I was the dude with the sword I would be having fantasies about how to use it on the guy walking next to me!

Moderator: Advocating the murder of the prime minister is offensive. If you ever post garbage like this again, you will be removed from the discussion board.

2 ( +4 / -2 )

So nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are just "fear cards" to you? Hmmm...more like it's reality, Kim is going to keep this up until at least the end of the US election, and hopefully no one gets hurt or worse killed because of it.

With your Americentrism, why would you understand that the with the far superior weaponry that the US, Japan and South Korea have, the state that is under the greater threat is NK.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

In an article in yesterday's JT, there was this part:

However, unlike certain military organizations, such as the United States Marine Corps, none of the GSDF uniforms have personnel wearing a sword. The last time soldiers in Japan carried swords was in World War II, during the days of the Imperial Japanese Army.

So who are these guys? JASDF, JMSDF, or JGSDF?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@sf2kSEP

how can they all be EXACTLY the same height???

The chances were very high that they had consciously gotten guards with the same height together. ;‑)

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

albaleoSep. 12, 2016 - 09:11PM JST In an article in yesterday's JT, there was this part: "However, unlike certain military organizations, such as the United States Marine Corps, none of the GSDF uniforms have personnel wearing a sword. The last time soldiers in Japan carried swords was in World War II, during the days of the Imperial Japanese Army." So who are these guys? JASDF, JMSDF, or JGSDF?

In the now defunct Imperial Japanese Army, officers were permitted to wear swords into combat. They were in fact given choice of a Nihon-to (gun-to) or a western saber, with many opting for the former. Today's JSDF officers do not wear swords. The photo is for a ceremonial guard and the swords today are used strictly for ceremonies and parades.

-3 ( +0 / -3 )

@OssanAmerica

Thanks. I'd assumed the sword was ceremonial. But it still seems at odds with the previous article about swords in an emblem. Ceremonies and emblems are similar in that they are generally symbolic things. Is there any ceremonial occasion where katana are used?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

With their army of professional models, the J-Force should be able to handle NK.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

albaleoSep. 13, 2016 - 03:16AM JST @OssanAmerica Thanks. I'd assumed the sword was ceremonial. But it still seems at odds with the previous article about swords in an emblem. Ceremonies and emblems are similar in that they are generally symbolic things. Is there any ceremonial occasion where katana are used?

Not in the JSDF. During WWII an officer would hand over his sword(katana) to the enemy in a surrender ceremony. Some squadrons of Tokkoutai (Kamikaze pilots) used Tantos (short ones) in a ceremony before taking off on a one way mission.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I see a sword.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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