Sabine Frühstück

The Japanese self-defence forces (SDF) are the intriguing subject of this book. What does it feel like to be a soldier in a military that constitutionally shouldn’t exist, in a nation with a problematic military heritage, training for conflict whilst forbidden to engage in it? Frühstuck comments on the ways in which masculinity and femininity are constructed in this context, the ways in which the SDF are represented in popular culture, and the way that the SDF narrates its own history. The publicity for the book focuses a lot on the way in which Frühstuck was the first scholar who ever participated in basic training with the SDF, but this constituted only one week of her research, and actually serves as little more than an introduction to the context and themes she pursues in later chapters. This was a fascinating topic, and very readable, but I wasn’t always convinced by the evidence Frühstuck presented in support of her arguments.… (mere)