GSDF Chief Yoshihide Yoshida to Be Chief of the Joint Staff

The Yomiuri Shimbun

18:10 JST, March 14, 2023

The government plans to appoint current Ground Self-Defense Force Chief of Staff Yoshihide Yoshida to the post of chief of the Joint Staff, the top uniformed officer of the Self-Defense Forces. The appointment is expected to be finalized during a Cabinet meeting by the end of March.

Koji Yamazaki, who has served as chief of the Joint Staff since April 2019, will step down.

Yoshida, 60, graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1986. He is the first person to assume the post that didn’t graduate from the National Defense Academy. Yoshida has served as the GSDF’s Chief of Staff since March 2021, after serving as the GSDF’s Northern Army Commanding General among other positions.