On the 23rd, the testimony of the interested persons revealed that the OB, who was the head of the Special Forces of the Ground Self-Defense Force, recruited active SDF personnel and reserve personnel of the SDF every year and instructed the training of private combat in Mie prefecture. . The training took place in December last year. Although actual training could not be confirmed in the field interview, the participants wore camouflage combat uniforms and moved between the OB-presided facilities and the nearby mountains. The Intelligence Security Command, which monitors secret leaks from within the SDF, is also capturing and investigating the facts.

This is the first time it has been revealed that SDF personnel will be trained in combat behavior from the outside. It has been indicated that the Ministry of Defense will come into contact with the Self-Defense Law, which stipulates duties and obligations of confidentiality. The OB has repeatedly made conservative claims, such as sympathizing with the idea of ​​turning the Self-Defense Forces into the Emperor’s army, which was championed by the late writer Yukio Mishima, and there are voices that are concerned about the penetration of radicals. political ideas in the body.

According to the persons concerned, the training will be led by Takashi Araya, a former 1st class leader of the “Special Operations Group”, which was established in 2004 by the GSDF’s sole special forces in response to terrorism and hostage incidents. In November 2018, after retiring from the Self-Defense Forces, a facility for combat training and martial arts was opened in the mountains of Kumano City, Mie Prefecture. Immediately afterwards, in December of the same year, April 19 and December 20, active self-defense groups and reserve self-defense groups were recruited and combat training continued under the name “Self-defense training camp”.

According to the 20-year recruitment guidelines posted on the facility’s home page, “a place where SDF personnel who really love the country can take hands-on training that the SDF can’t.” The content of the training is “team building” (unit formation), “planning” (operations planning), “operation” (operational action), etc.

More than a dozen people participated in the training camp held from December 26 to 30, 2008. Perhaps to avoid public attention, I put on camouflage uniforms and took a passenger car around sunset, and headed into the forest where the training was carried out from the facilities. Mr. Aratani did not respond to the interview.

In 1970, Mishima urged the Self-Defense Forces to propose a constitutional amendment, broke into the garrison and committed suicide by seppuku. Born in 1959, Aratani professed to follow Mishima in magazine interviews. “I was inspired by the spirit of Mishima,” he said, calling for the need for an organization similar to the private defense organization “Tatenokai”, which was formed by Mishima.

“The former leader of the group is charismatic (the relationship between the former leader of the group and the SDF personnel who participated) is very similar to Mishima and Tatenokai,” said one of the Defense Ministry officials. (Joint)