Creating Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force, 1945-2015: A Sword Well Made is unique in the way it captures all of the major and minor players who took part in shattering and reforging the Sacred Sword that is Japan’s Ground Self Defense Force and puts all of that information into an all encompassing format…. This book has value for those who wish for more than just a Japanese perspective on the reconstruction of Japan after World War II and during the Cold War. The book is also valuable in the picture it paints of how difficult it truly is to create/recreate an army and all of the cultural and social nuances that are required to help its integration into society. This can be helpful to those wishing to gain further insights of the struggles undergone by during the reconstruction of Iraq and Afghanistan, both of which needed to completely rebuild their armies.

The Strategy Bridge

This highly readable book provides an unparalleled explanation of the historic, cultural, and political roots of Japan's modern ground forces. David Hunter-Chester takes the reader inside the story of how pacifist Japan re-tempered and sharpened a sword once sheathed.

Michael J. Green, Georgetown University

David Hunter-Chester has painstakingly researched the facts of Japan’s demobilization, the origins and adoption of the postwar constitution, and the debate over the pace of rearmament, both domestically and between the Japanese and U.S. governments. His in-depth detailing of the papers of Colonel Frank Kowalski, who was placed in charge of the National Police Reserve upon its U.S.-ordered creation following the outbreak of the Korean War, is, in my opinion, the very best available in either English or Japanese. His overall study of Japan’s demobilization and rearmament constitutes very valuable and readable scholarship.

James E. Auer, Vanderbilt University

Japan suffered epic defeat after fifteen years of war in 1945. Forces were broken, industry crippled, population starving, the country was occupied, and the government’s perfidy to the Japanese people was exposed. The Japanese Imperial Army, guilty of both atrocities and acting as a sovereign authority, was thoroughly disgraced. Yet within five years Japan was transitioning to a robust democracy and her Ground Self Defense Force began to emerge from the ashes in a unique relationship with the government and the people of Japan. David Hunter-Chester tells how this happened and how the Ground Self Defense Force developed from this humble and fraught beginning in a well-researched and very readable work that is a must-read for those wishing to understand America’s most important security partner.

Wallace "Chip" Gregson, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs

Creating Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force, 1945–2015: A Sword Well Made is a must-read for scholars and students of Japan, particularly those who focus on Japan's national security policy. The narrative of the evolution of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF), particularly how its force build-up has been affected by external events, provides the readers an opportunity to better understand how the JGSDF, which looks and moves like army, has had to navigate itself through normative constraints imposed on them in postwar Japan. While there are many books that focus on the history, strategy, doctrine, and culture of pre-1945 Imperial Japanese Army, very few have focused specifically on the JGSDF. This book fills a void and, without a doubt, is a very important contribution to the study of Japan's national security policy.

Yuki Tatsumi, Stimson Center