Luring potential members with the cute girl characters is too flippant. I’m not comfortable with that.

Wow, a voice of reason. Too bad it will be ignored -- kawaii rules all.

Is there any greater symbol of Japan's emasculation than the cute little cartoon girl? It's pretty sad when the military, the one institution within society that one would expect should encapsulate the ideals of manhood with a big m feels that it has to make use of this type of imagery.

Luring them with nationalism and a chance out of poverty is much more wholesome.

I'm glad to hear that someone at the JSDF seems to have some common sense. I worry about the type of recruit this sort of advertising would tend to attract — probably not exactly the type of person you would want to entrust with your nation's security.

Here is this officer's quote in Japanese: "「美少女キャラでの勧誘は、あまりに軽く、違和感がある」". He used the word "karui," translated as "flippant" here, but basically he is saying that these posters come across as shallow. Apparently he would rather the campaign more accurately reflect the gravity of the work, and the JSDF's role in times of disaster.

Here is a link to the Japanese-language Yomiuri article: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/national/20141111-OYT1T50111.html