[Provisional translation]
Today, as we hold the graduation ceremony of the National Defense Academy (NDA), an institution with a proud tradition, I offer my heartfelt congratulations to the graduates, who will shoulder responsibilities central to Japan’s national defense, as well as to the families of the graduates.
Congratulations on your graduation!
Now, formally commissioned as members of the Japan Self-Defense Forces (SDF), each of you will go forth to serve in the Ground, Maritime, and Air branches. On this memorable day, as the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I feel strongly reassured and also very inspired to see you all so full of drive and determination.
Here at the NDA, you engaged in academic studies, training, and Academy clubs and extracurricular activities while supporting your classmates who share the same aspirations as you, deepening your bonds, and drawing upon your own strength and ingenuity, and now this day has arrived. I believe that at times you encountered obstacles, and your path was surely neither smooth nor easy. But I feel certain that the four years you spent here are something you can experience nowhere else and entirely irreplaceable.
You will now take on your noble duties as senior SDF officers, carrying the expectations of your fellow countrymen and women. Seeing you dignified cadets in person, with your faces radiating confidence, I have no doubt you will live up to the expectations of the Japanese people. As the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I express my profound respect to you.
When you entered the Academy in 2022, Russia’s aggression against Ukraine had begun. In addition, in areas around Japan, the bolstering of nuclear and missile capabilities, rapid military buildups, and unilateral attempts to change the status quo by force or coercion had become increasingly pronounced. Against that backdrop, Japan formulated three security-related policy documents, including a National Security Strategy, and underwent a major shift in our postwar security policy in practical terms.
Currently, the security environment surrounding Japan has become the most severe and complex of the postwar era. Since you entered the Academy, challenges to the free and open international order based on the rule of law have intensified. At the same time, in the Indo-Pacific, among other concerns, we see the further enhancement of military capabilities by China and North Korea and the strengthening of cooperation between China and Russia and also between Russia and North Korea. Also, drawing lessons from Russia's aggression against Ukraine, countries are now urgently preparing for new forms of warfare, including the mass deployment of unmanned drones, and preparing for extended periods of fighting. These changes are occurring at an accelerated pace.
In the face of this severe reality, the graduating classes who preceded you here at the NDA have been undertaking their duties on the front lines every day, engaged in missile defense, monitoring and surveillance in the East China Sea, scrambles, and other duties, and maintaining constant vigilance. In this context, the Government has been pressing ahead in examining revisions to Japan's three security-related policy documents within 2026, ahead of schedule, never turning our eyes from the harsh reality facing our nation.
In order to fully and resolutely defend Japan’s territory, territorial waters, and airspace, as well as the lives and the property of the Japanese people, we will fundamentally reinforce our defense capabilities by examining all options, without excluding any possibilities, including what the Ministry of Defense and the SDF should look like organizationally.
As the SDF determines how best to respond to the increasingly severe current state of affairs, going forward, as senior SDF officers, you must make efforts to discharge your duties for the defense of Japan while keeping a constant watchful eye on the rapidly changing international situation and security environment.
The speed at which the world is changing is accelerating at an ever-increasing pace. For example, generative AI is now having a major impact on socio-economic activities, but it has only been in the spotlight since 2022. It was during the time you were studying here that it rapidly became widespread and its development truly took off.
As cutting-edge science and technology will continue to develop at an accelerating pace into the future, significant changes will also arise in how our national defense is carried out. Going forward, as senior SDF officers, you will serve as the central core of Japan's defense capabilities, and in doing so you will also have to respond to unprecedented changes.
You will need to have the leadership ability to issue appropriate orders to your subordinates at your duty stations in order to save lives and simultaneously possess flexible and innovative thinking and adaptability, without being constrained by the conventional thinking of the past, in order to carry out your duties for defending Japan. Please keep this in mind and concentrate on refining your skills.
In the face of an international order that is growing increasingly severe, the expectations and hopes of the Japanese people towards the SDF are becoming even stronger than before. Last year, the preliminary report of a public opinion poll conducted by the Government indicated that 93.7 percent of respondents had a good impression of the SDF, the highest level ever recorded.
This is nothing less than the result of your predecessors responding appropriately to the rapid changes in the security environment and defending to the end the independence and peace Japan enjoys, as well as the lives and the peaceful daily lives of the Japanese people, with unwavering resolve. As the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I take great pride in this.
We will steadily advance measures to improve the treatment and working environments and establish new lifetime career plans for SDF personnel so that you who serve at the truly central core of our defense capabilities can take pride at being a member of the SDF and devote yourselves fully to the critically important mission of defending the nation. Rest assured in this regard as you take your first steps forward as SDF members.
While it goes without saying that Japan's own efforts are essential for ensuring the peace and security of both Japan and the region, at the same time, cooperation with our allies and with like-minded countries is also indispensable.
The Japan-U.S. Alliance is the cornerstone of Japanese security. To address the various challenges facing us, Japan and the United States of America are engaged in unshakeable collaboration, and together strengthening the deterrence and response capabilities of the Japan-U.S. Alliance. Moreover, we are deepening multifaceted security cooperation which has the Japan-U.S. Alliance as the cornerstone, including Japan-U.S.-Australia, Japan-U.S.-Republic of Korea, Japan-U.S.-Philippines, and Japan-U.S.-Australia-India cooperation.
Additionally, we are vigorously promoting a Free and Open Indo-Pacific (FOIP) as a pillar of our foreign policy and strategically evolving it, in line with the times. Consistent with that vision, we are working to strengthen our coordination with like-minded countries and countries in the Global South that share fundamental values and principles with us.
To the international graduates, your life as a student at the NDA draws to a close today. Here, away from your homelands where things are familiar, I imagine that at times you felt confused or stressed by Japanese culture. And yet, I am certain that through your time here at the NDA, the knowledge and experience you gained, and the bonds you made with many classmates you studied alongside, have become something irreplaceable that you will never forget your whole lives through. Even after you leave Japan, you will remain graduates of the NDA.
I sincerely hope that in the future, taking pride in this, you make great strides in your home countries and also serve as a bridge for friendship between your home countries and Japan. I very much hope that you tell people in your home countries about the attractive qualities of both the NDA and Japan.
To the families of the cadets, the graduates have all grown to be highly promising. I sincerely appreciate the tremendous support you have given them. They will be taking on challenging but noble duties. As the Commander-in-Chief of the SDF, I will make every possible effort to enable them to execute their missions in any environment.
To the graduating class,
“I will meet the expectations of the Japanese people by striving to complete duties which may involve risking my own life when facing challenges.”
I too carry this oath of the SDF in my heart as I undertake my duties each day.
Maintain the powerful awareness that each and every one of you is a stronghold carrying upon your shoulders responsibility for the lives and the peaceful daily lives of the Japanese people. I am counting on you to do your utmost to execute your noble duties so that you continue to be members of the SDF who always live up to the trust and expectations of the Japanese people.
I will end my address by extending my great respect to the faculty and staff members of the NDA, including President Kubo in particular, for their devoted work in educating the cadets. I also wish to extend my best wishes for the further development of the NDA.
March 14, 2026
TAKAICHI Sanae
Prime Minister of Japan