Minister of Defense Yasukazu Hamada of Japan
In the Cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso, appointed on 24 September 2008, Hamada was appointed as Minister of Defense.
Japans Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada is surrounded by reporters in Tokyo on October 31, 2008.
Defense Minister Hamada reviews the SDF Special Guard of Honor.
With the inauguration of the cabinet of Prime Minister Taro Aso on September 24, 2008, Yasukazu Hamada was appointed Minister of Defense, succeeding Yoshimasa Hayashi, and assumed his new duties the following day.
Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said the ministry would enforce discipline to prevent similar cases from recurring.
Hamada said a dispatch for maritime policing may not be suitable from the viewpoint of international coordination because such an operation is restricted basically to safeguarding Japanese-registered ships or Japanese nationals under threat.
Defence Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday the Self-Defence Forces should be properly authorized to use weapons if and when the government decides to send SDF units to waters off Somalia to defend commercial shipping against pirate attacks.
TOKYO, Nov 14 (Xinhua) -- The head of an Air Self-Defense Force academy of Japan was sacked in September over allegations of sexual harassment against one of his female deputies, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday.
The head of an Air Self-Defense Force academy was sacked in September over allegations of sexual harassment against a female deputy, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday.
agreement," Hamada was quoted by a ministry official as telling Schieffer during their talks in Tokyo.
On the extension of the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force's refueling mission in the Indian Ocean, Hamada said in the talks that he expects the Diet to pass the relevant bill, which is currently stalled in the opposition-controlled House of Councillors, so that the mission can continue uninterrupted.
Despite the failure to intercept the target, "Japan will of course not change its position toward missile defense and will work hard toward (building) it," Hamada was quoted as saying by the official.
At a press conference Tuesday, Hamada said he had been instructed by the premier to tighten control over public expressions of political opinions by Self-Defense Force (SDF) officers and punish relevant personnel in the Defense Ministry and the SDF.
Yasukazu Hamada said Gen Toshio Tamogami's views, written in an essay, ran counter to the government's position on the war.
Mr Hamada said that by acting swiftly against the general, the Japanese government was making it clear that it did not share his views which, he said, could stir controversy in Asian nations.
A Maritime Self-Defense Force sailor who died last month may have been made to undergo an excessively punishing exercise at an MSDF special forces academy, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Tuesday.
Unusual' training: Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada is surrounded by reporters Tuesday at the Diet.
Meantime Japanese Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada said Friday he has been ordered by Prime Minister Taro Aso to consider sending Maritime Self-Defense Force vessels to join the international effort.