Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Music Corps

JSDF Central Army Band at the JSDF Festival 2012.

The Music Corps (Japanese: 音楽隊) is a department of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force that is tasked with presiding over military bands in the JGSDF. Similarly, the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air Self Defense Force each have a music corps. JGSDF military bands regularly participate in international festivals and take part in national and branch-related events. It is roughly the equivalent to the Corps of Army Music (CAMUS) in the British Army and the Music Branch (Canadian Forces).

Purpose and Traditions

The JGSDF adopted a more western style military band, which originated in Japan during the Meiji Restoration, which saw the reform of the armed forces to the standards of Western armed services. The JGSDF's bands also carry on the practice of bugle call playing, with bugle platoons present in every unit in the JGSDF using G major bugles. As a JSDF military band, the JGSDF Central Band frequently renders honors in national and local performances, including events for honoured imperial guests and official dignitaries. It is the main sponsor for the JSDF Marching Festival.

JGSDF Central Band

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band
陸上自衛隊中央音楽隊
The JGSDF Band at Camp Narashino in 2008
Active	June 1951 – present
Country	Japan
Branch	Japan Army
Type	Military band
Size	About 100 personnel
Garrison/HQ	Camp Asaka, Nerima, Tokyo
Commanders
Current commander	Colonel Takahiro Higuchi

The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band (陸上自衛隊中央音楽隊 (Rikujō Jieitai Chūō Ongakutai)) or JGSDF Central Band is the premier military band of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Its more senior activities consist of national ceremonies, military parades, and symphonic concerts taking place in the capital of Tokyo Metropolis. It also performs at events that also includes joint service concerts alongside other Japanese military bands such as the Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces Central Bands. The Central Band also presides over all military bands of the Ground Self-Defense Force and is modeled on its military counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom. The band is a directly reporting unit of the Ministry of Defense.

History

The band in Russia in 2019.

The JGSDF Band was created in the summer of 1951 under the as part of the National Police Reserve (formerly the National Safety Force), the predecessor agency of the JGSDF. With the NPR only being an armed national police force rather than a national military, the JGSDF Band was the first military band to form in modern Japan. Its history is rooted in the long heritage of Japanese military music, and more specifically the Imperial Japanese Army Band beginning in the 1880s. In the last half-century, the JGSDF Band has gained the nobility of being the senior most ground force and self-defence force wind band, serving as one of many ceremonial military and paramilitary units that serve the Emperor and the Imperial Family during state visits and other official functions. Musicians of the band have since 2015 taught personnel of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces Band.

Awards and Honours

• April 2008 – The JGSDF Central Band was honoured by the Japanese Musical Education and Culture Promotion Society with the 18th Academy Award of Band Performance
• 2009 – The Central Band was awarded the George Howard Musical Excellence Citation from the Sousa Foundation.
• 2015 – Letter of acknowledgment by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe
• August 2017 – During the 2017 Royal Edinburgh Tattoo at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland, the Central Band was awarded the Polly Sword, the award to the best-performing band in the tattoo.

Organization of the JGSDF Ground Forces Bands

The JGSDF Central Band, as the premier band of the service, is also the principal ensemble of the Ground Forces Bands Service, which is modeled on the United States Army Bands and the British Army Corps of Army Music. The other bands that compose the service are:

Army Bands

• Northern Army Band (Camp Makomanai, Sapporo, Hokkaido)
• North Eastern Army Band (Camp Sendai, Sendai, Miyagi)
• Eastern Army Band (Camp Asaka, Nerima, Tokyo)
• Central Army Band (Camp Itami, Itami, Hyōgo)
• Western Army Band (Camp Kengun, Kumamoto, Kumamoto)

Division Bands and Brigade Bands

JGSDF 15th Band and the USMC III MEF Band

• 1st Band (Camp Nerima), a part of the 1st Division
• 2nd Band (Asahikawa Air Field, Hokkaido), a part of the 2nd Division
• 3rd Band (Camp Senzo), a part of the 3rd Division
• 4th Band (Camp Fukuoka), a part of the 4th Division
• 5th Band (Tokachi Airfield, Obihiro, Hokkaido), a part of the 5th Brigade
• 6th Band (Camp Jinmachi), a part of the 6th Division
• 7th Band (Camp Higashi-Chitose), a part of the 7th Division
• 8th Band (Camp Kita-Kumamoto), a part of the 8th Division
• 9th Band (Camp Aomori), a part of the 9th Division
• 10th Band (Camp Moriyama), a part of the 10th Division
• 11th Band (Camp Makomanai), a part of the 11th Brigade
• 12th Band (Camp Soumagahara), a part of the 12th Brigade
• 13th Band (Camp Kaitaichi), a part of the 13th Brigade
• 14th Band (Camp Zentsuji), a part of the 14th Brigade
• 15th Band (Camp Naha), a part of the 15th Brigade

Gallery of bands

The band performing for Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu and Japanese Defense Minister Takeshi Iwaya

The band in their camaflouge uniform

The band during a JSDF parade

See also

• Canadian military bands
• United States military bands
• Russian military bands
• Indian military bands
• Military bands of the Bundeswehr
• Corps of drums
• JSDF Marching Festival
• List of marching bands

External links

• USARJ Band conducts a Bugle Class for JGSDF on YouTube