TOKYO: In a country that has been officially pacifist for decades, even Japan’s military is embracing a non-aggressive approach.

Despite politicians’ push for Japan to play a greater role in global security, the number of people seeking military careers is dwindling as the population grows older and the young find the armed forces very uncool.

The Japanese military is responding by launching a charm offensive, letting young people pose for snapshots in uniform and wooing them with cute cartoonish characters.

A key target for the campaign by the military – known as the Self-Defence Forces (SDF) under the pacifist constitution – is in Tokyo’s trendy Shibuya district.

Mannequins in ground, marine and air force uniforms stand at the windows of the military’s Shibuya office, where uniforms on hangers are ready to be tried on. A TV screen shows videos about life in the SDF.

In a glass case are plastic models of planes, ships and tanks along with tiny dolls of smiling, saluting female military personnel.

Some 1,600 people have visited the showroom since its official opening on July 1, many more than the 1,000 expected, said Major Makoto Nishida, who is in charge of recruiting and personnel affairs at the Ground Staff Office.

Nishida said the number of applicants applying for entry into the SDF had nearly halved from the peak years of 2002 and 2003.

“The number of children is on the decline while more are seeking higher education,” he told AFP.

“Young people just don’t think that joining the SDF is one of the options for their future career, unlike becoming police officers or firefighters. We need to soften the image of the SDF as being rigid, severe and dangerous.”

As soft piano music played on the speakers, two girls browsed the racks in the room, giggling and looking for the cutest outfits.

“It was fun,” said Akina Namegawa, 15, after trying on a uniform and having her photo taken for free.

Her friend Chihiro Shimozuka said she had never thought of joining the military as “it looks tough”.

But after a browse around the office, she said: “I now think I may take a little bit of interest.”

While Japan’s image in parts of Asia and the West remains tainted by wartime militarism, Japan now officially has no military. The country renounced the use of force in its 1947 constitution imposed by US occupiers.

Troops in the post-war SDF – which has never fired a shot in combat – are technically civil servants at the defence ministry.

The Shibuya office displays the ultimate non-aggressive symbol of the SDF – big-eyed, apple-cheeked characters named Prince Pickles and his girlfriend Parsley.

“As pickles and parsley bring out the best in the main dish in cuisine, they match the (SDF) image of bringing the best out of the people and supporting them,” explains the defence ministry.

Uniformed men and women distribute stickers of Prince Pickles and Parsley on the street, while inviting children to touch ice the navy has brought from Antarctica.

The SDF also runs commercials on television and at cinemas.

Despite the pacifist constitution, Japan has the world’s fifth biggest military budget and maintains more than 230,000 SDF personnel.

The military’s mission took a landmark turn when then prime minister Junichiro Koizumi deployed troops to Iraq to help rehabilitate the country after the 2003 US-led invasion.

It was the first time since 1945 that Japan deployed armed forces to a country where fighting was under way.

The ground mission ended in 2006 but Japan has a naval mission off Afghanistan as part of the US-led “war on terror”.

The SDF image has taken a serious blow due to a string of scandals.

Japan’s largest and newest destroyer collided with a fishing boat in February, killing two men – a father and his adult son – on board.

In September, a naval officer training for an elite counter-intelligence unit died after being forced to kick-box with 15 other men at once in what was apparently a ritual at the base.

And so the military PR is starting young. The Shibuya centre has try-out uniforms for children four feet tall, about the size of children entering primary school.

Nishida said there were no complaints.

“We hope children will have a friendly image towards us. Actually parents are enjoying seeing their children wearing uniforms,” he said.—AFP