Govt Aims to Raise Salaries for SDF Personnel with Law Revision to Encourage Them to Stay in Jobs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:55 JST, November 7, 2025

The government aims to raise salaries for Self-Defense Forces personnel across all age groups to help prevent mid-ranking and experienced members from leaving the profession.

The government is considering submitting a bill to the current Diet session to revise a law regarding the remuneration of Defense Ministry personnel.

According to the outline of the bill, the starting salaries for members serving in the Nishi ranks — private in the Ground Self-Defense Force, seaman apprentice in the Maritime Self-Defense Force and airman third class in the Air Self-Defense Force — and candidates to these ranks will be increased to the highest levels ever, while base pay for all ranks will also be raised.

The government hopes the revision will help secure an increase in applicants to the SDF, which have been facing a shortage of members, and prevent personnel from leaving their jobs.

The starting salary for high school graduates in the Nishi ranks will be ¥239,500, up ¥14,900 from the previous fiscal year, while candidates for the ranks will receive ¥190,500, up ¥11,500 from the previous amount.

If the law is amended, the revised amounts will be applied retroactively from April 1 of this year.

The SDF’s pay grade serves as an indicator for determining salaries based on a member’s abilities, experience and achievements. The bill also stipulates an increase in the monthly salary for all pay grades.

Until last fiscal year, the focus had been placed on raising salaries for younger personnel, but the government now seeks to improve remuneration for a wide range of members to reduce mid-career resignations.

According to the Defense Ministry, 6,258 SDF personnel resigned mid-career in fiscal 2023, the highest in the past 15 years. There has been an increase in mid-ranking and experienced officers moving to the private sector, the ministry said.

The recruitment rate — calculated by dividing the actual number of SDF personnel by the authorized strength of 247,154 — has been on a downward trend. It was 89.1% at the end of fiscal 2024, down by 5 percentage points from the end of fiscal 2020.