A multimodal critical discourse analysis of a Japanese Self-Defense Forces recruitment brochure

ABSTRACT

Military recruitment strategies continue to evolve in line with developments in broader socio-political contexts. In what can be seen as a fairly recent development, both men and women are now central to recruitment campaigns. Such changes can be viewed as signalling a shift towards equality in military forces. Critics argue, however, that changes in this respect are superficial and serve to mask the prevailing masculine dominance in the military. Using multimodal critical discourse analysis, I examine the representation of service personnel in a recently published recruitment brochure produced by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces. The primary focus, however, is on how female personnel are depicted. The findings reveal that the recruitment efforts attempt to convey that the Japanese military promotes equality. Female and male service members are shown performing roles interchangeably. However, contradictions are also evident and in some instances clear distinctions are made along gendered lines. The military is also discursively constructed as an institution of care, which supports female personnel and enables them to achieve personal and career success. The first contribution the study makes is to research on multimodal texts which are used for political communication. Secondly, it enhances critical scholarship on military recruitment strategies.

KEYWORDS:

• Japan Self-Defense forces
• multimodal critical discourse analysis
• military masculinity
• military recruitment
• gender equality
• 自衛隊

Acknowledgements

I would like to express my gratitude to the anonymous reviewers for their helpful feedback during the peer review process. I would also like to thank Atsuko Saisho for her assistance with translating the relevant Japanese text into English. Finally, thank you to the production team at Taylor and Francis for preparing the article for publication.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. The file can be downloaded from https://www.mod.go.jp/gsdf/jieikanbosyu/details/pamphlet/r2sougouannai.pdf.

2. I follow the page numbers as they appear on the bottom left and right sides of the brochure pages respectively, beginning on the fourth page of the pdf file (labelled as p.3).

3. I utilized the expertise of a professional translator to ensure that, firstly, the translations between Japanese and English were accurate; and secondly, to help me understand what, in the translator’s view, the Japanese textual discourse conveyed.