Japan spends 1% of its national budget on its army. Sorry, it’s not an army, it’s a “self-defense force”. However, Japan’s security treaty with America is supposed to guarantee US protection if attacked — the ostensible reason for the tens of thousands of US soldiers based in Japan — so the SDF is kind of pointless.
It mainly gets used for when there are earthquakes and other emergencies. Saying that, Japan spends more on its SDF than, say, the UK does on its armed forces — even though the latter’s are active around the whole world.
Where does the money go? Equipment. The SDF has some very nice, expensive machinery. And they get English lessons. When one of the Tokyo Kinky team used to teach English, several of his students were SDF soldiers whose lessons were being paid for by the public purse.
Oh, and they also seem to spend some of their budget on employing glamor models (called Gravure idols in Japan) to pose for a 2014 calendar in uniform!
Well, we shouldn’t be surprised. The SDF has done this kind of thing before and even has some kawaii mascots to help with recruitment. The Chinese internet, though, is amazed by the likes of Anna Kanno (January and February) posing in fatigues.
March and April is Azusa Yamamoto.
May and June is Narumi Konno.
July and August is Erina Matsui.
September and October is Mai Fuchigami, a voice actress.
Finally, Gravure idol Mai Hakase makes up the list for November and December.
Saying that, clearly money was tight since they couldn’t afford a Gravure model or cute girl for each month.
We have been unable to ascertain whether this is a genuinely official SDF calendar or whether it was just shot at their facilities. Either way, if you’re into girls in uniform, you should get your hands on it.
Failing that, here are Aira Mihana and Reon Kadena to sate your appetites for now…
