Feature: Bullying, harassment, high suicide rate raise questions about future of Japan's SDF

As Prime Minister Shinzo Abe sets about fulfilling his legacy of normalizing Japan's military and reversing decades of time-honored pacifism, revelations of institutionalized bullying and harassment within the ranks of the Self-Defense Force (SDF), as well as a resistance to Abe's plans for a more proactive military, are raising questions of the SDF's preparedness for such a shift.

The sempai-kohai, senior and junior or master and protege relationship, is integral to many institutions in Japan, starting with the family and moving on to schools, clubs and businesses. This facet of society is often a talking point in Japan's traditional sports, such as karate and judo, with both sports having been in the headlines this year for senior members and coaches of prestigious clubs and universities taking advantage of, physically assaulting or sexually harassing junior members.

Such relationships, with or without the abuses, are more pronounced the more traditional, strict and discipline-focused the institution or organization is, and on the rational side serves to perpetuate respect, a hierarchical system that gives its juniors goals to aim for and ensures that discipline can be maintained by age and power -- the latter two aspects being inextricably linked - - and create age and generation-based bonds that can last a lifetime.

However, this culture-based system, as has been seen, is open to abuse and Japan's SDF, perhaps one of the nation's most well- recognized institutions for its exacting discipline and hierarchical paradigms, surpassing those of the police or fire services, is beset with institutionalized bullying and harassment, which has resulted in increasing cases of depression and other mental disorders, as well as suicides.

The scope and severity of the cases has led some experts on the matter to question whether, in twine with mixed feelings from within the SDF about its potentially changing global role, the SDF is actually ready to undertake such a shift, or whether the institution needs to undergo a monumental overhaul to eradicate its deep-rooted culture of abuse, persecution and intimidation.

A case involving a petty officer third class sailor committing suicide aboard a Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer stationed at Yokosuka Naval Base south of Tokyo last year, rekindled an ugly flame the SDF and the government thought had at least been diminished if not extinguished.

Following a rare investigation into such cases by the MSDF, it was found that the sailor killed himself after a prolonged period of bullying by a superior officer, involving the superior officer on a daily basis striking his junior on the head and forcing him to kneel on the ground with his nose to the floor. Following the third hearing at which the junior officer tried to transfer to a different ship, at which his abuser was present, he was forced by his senior to stand for hours holding a bucket in each outstretched arm.

The daily torture of the crewman by his superior was documented in his diary and finally used as evidence submitted by the MSDF Criminal Investigation Command and likely to be used by the Tokyo High Court in its ongoing adjudications regarding the case. The crewman's tormentor had also been hiding his mobile phone, only to throw it into the sea the day after the tragic suicide, in an attempt not to be implicated.

Along with the suicide of another young sailor who was bullied to death by his senior in 2004, there were monumental delays by both the MSDF and accusations of the Defense Agency trying to hide documents to distance themselves from the fact that bullying by senior personnel was the predominant reason for the suicides.

"These are just the cases that have come to light, far more go unreported and although may not lead to suicide have led to serious injury, both physical and mental and I personally can claim to have witnessed at least 6 cases that resulted in the victim being transferred to other bases, been given an early discharge or released for psychological reasons," a MSDF 2nd Class Petty Officer operating out of the U.S. Naval Air Facility Atsugi in Kanagawa Prefecture, told Xinhua on condition of anonymity.

"We know and expect that when we're young life is going to be tough and that we must respect our seniors' orders however extreme or demeaning they may be. This will make us stronger in the future and we will do the same to our juniors when the time comes. We have to be tough, we have to be able to endure insufferable situations and take a beating," the officer said. "But there are lines that shouldn't be crosses, which often are."

He went on to say that in cases where the bullying had gone too far and a junior personnel had ended up hospitalized for medical or psychological treatment, there was a code of silence which, if broken, would lead to even more serious ramifications for the whistle-blower than the original victim.

"Nobody talks. That's the code," he stated simply.

The officer's testimony validates an editorial in the popular Shukan Gendai magazine claiming the SDF was unfit to be deployed overseas, due to its cases of bullying, power and sexual harassment, mental illness and suicides. The editorial described the whole institution, based on the extent of such cases, as on the "brink of a nervous breakdown" and quoted former enlistees and unnamed Defense Ministry insiders as saying the problems are deep- rooted and endemic in the SDF.

In addition, according to the Cabinet Office, suicides in the SDF stand at a staggering 37 percent per 100,000 enlistees, which is nearly 2 percent higher than the national civilian average, already one of the highest in the world at 60 percent times higher than the global average.

The government statistics also revealed, in a sign that the SDF may be unfit for such overseas deployments in the future, that among Japanese SDF troops sent to Iraq for duty between 2003 and 2009, the suicide rate rocketed to 311.5 per 100,000, which is more than 15 times the civilian rate.

Along with the worryingly high suicide statistics, the number of sexually motivated assaults are also a major issue in the SDF, with more than 4,000 servicewomen reporting having experienced some form of sexual harassment; be it rape at around 4 percent, unwanted physical contact at around 20 percent, or sexist or sexualized joking at 25 percent, according to government data.

"I'd be lying if I said it didn't go on," the officer told Xinhua. "Men overwhelmingly outnumber women across all divisions of the SDF and the power structure becomes even more complicated because there is both age and gender factoring into the order of things. So, no doubt younger servicewomen have a hard time, as most of the out-of-hours parties involve alcohol and are compulsory. Honestly speaking, men prefer to drink if women are there and junior servicewomen couldn't refuse an order to drink with a senior," he said.

"And yes, once the alcohol flows, things happen. Bad things. And they can escalate pretty quickly, as has been the case," the officer recounted.

"In each case the women was ordered by her superior to keep her mouth shut, as it was 'just an induction' and 'everyone has to go through it.' It's pretty disgusting when you think about it," he said, adding that there had been a lot of talk about personnel not willing to be deployed overseas, as they signed up to defend Japan under the constitution and would not be forced to undertake operations outside their remit.

"A lot of us are proud of our country and would do anything to defend it. But going to war overseas is something we didn't consider a possibility when we joined. Moreover, I believe there is a strong contingent across the (SDF) board who would de-enlist if they were called on to fight overseas, as it was not what they joined the SDF to do," said the officer. Endi