Masamori Sase is professor emeritus at the National Defense Academy of Japan and visiting scholar at Takushoku University.Robert D. Eldridge is former associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history at Osaka University.Graham B. Leonard earned a PhD in international public policy from Osaka University.

• Chapter 1: The Arrival of Director General SakataChapter 2: Sakata’s “Study Group Considering Defense Issues”Chapter 3: A Ploy during Diet ArgumentsChapter 4: The Change in Public Opinion on DefenseChapter 5: The Sakata–Schlesinger TalksChapter 6: Schlesinger’s Dismissal and Return to JapanChapter 7: How SDF Personnel Were SeenChapter 8: The Basic Defense Force Concept: A New Defense PhilosophyChapter 9: The Landmark Defense White PaperChapter 10: Innovations in Defense Policy: The “National Defense Program Guidelines” and the National Defense CouncilChapter 11: The MiG-25 IncidentChapter 12: The Lockheed Scandal and False AccusationsChapter 13: Watching the Intraparty ConflictChapter 14: Sakata Michita after His Term as Director General

Robert D. Eldridge deserves utmost thanks of those interested in Japan’s defense policy by translating Sase Masamori’s detailed biography of Japanese Defense Minister Michita Sakata. Sase Masamori’s clear explanations of Sakata’s undeterred role in creating Japan’s Basic Defense Force Concept, writing a landmark Defense White Paper, and producing the National Defense Program Guidelines as defense minister during a tumultuous period in Japanese politics are nothing short of professional and scholarly magnificence.

Masamori Sase is professor emeritus at the National Defense Academy of Japan and visiting scholar at Takushoku University.Robert D. Eldridge is former associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history at Osaka University.Graham B. Leonard earned a PhD in international public policy from Osaka University.

• Chapter 1: The Arrival of Director General SakataChapter 2: Sakata’s “Study Group Considering Defense Issues”Chapter 3: A Ploy during Diet ArgumentsChapter 4: The Change in Public Opinion on DefenseChapter 5: The Sakata–Schlesinger TalksChapter 6: Schlesinger’s Dismissal and Return to JapanChapter 7: How SDF Personnel Were SeenChapter 8: The Basic Defense Force Concept: A New Defense PhilosophyChapter 9: The Landmark Defense White PaperChapter 10: Innovations in Defense Policy: The “National Defense Program Guidelines” and the National Defense CouncilChapter 11: The MiG-25 IncidentChapter 12: The Lockheed Scandal and False AccusationsChapter 13: Watching the Intraparty ConflictChapter 14: Sakata Michita after His Term as Director General

Robert D. Eldridge deserves utmost thanks of those interested in Japan’s defense policy by translating Sase Masamori’s detailed biography of Japanese Defense Minister Michita Sakata. Sase Masamori’s clear explanations of Sakata’s undeterred role in creating Japan’s Basic Defense Force Concept, writing a landmark Defense White Paper, and producing the National Defense Program Guidelines as defense minister during a tumultuous period in Japanese politics are nothing short of professional and scholarly magnificence.

Masamori Sase is professor emeritus at the National Defense Academy of Japan and visiting scholar at Takushoku University.Robert D. Eldridge is former associate professor of Japanese political and diplomatic history at Osaka University.Graham B. Leonard earned a PhD in international public policy from Osaka University.

• Chapter 1: The Arrival of Director General SakataChapter 2: Sakata’s “Study Group Considering Defense Issues”Chapter 3: A Ploy during Diet ArgumentsChapter 4: The Change in Public Opinion on DefenseChapter 5: The Sakata–Schlesinger TalksChapter 6: Schlesinger’s Dismissal and Return to JapanChapter 7: How SDF Personnel Were SeenChapter 8: The Basic Defense Force Concept: A New Defense PhilosophyChapter 9: The Landmark Defense White PaperChapter 10: Innovations in Defense Policy: The “National Defense Program Guidelines” and the National Defense CouncilChapter 11: The MiG-25 IncidentChapter 12: The Lockheed Scandal and False AccusationsChapter 13: Watching the Intraparty ConflictChapter 14: Sakata Michita after His Term as Director General

Robert D. Eldridge deserves utmost thanks of those interested in Japan’s defense policy by translating Sase Masamori’s detailed biography of Japanese Defense Minister Michita Sakata. Sase Masamori’s clear explanations of Sakata’s undeterred role in creating Japan’s Basic Defense Force Concept, writing a landmark Defense White Paper, and producing the National Defense Program Guidelines as defense minister during a tumultuous period in Japanese politics are nothing short of professional and scholarly magnificence.