April 15, 2026

Japanese Communist Party lawmaker Yamazoe Taku, at a meeting of the House of Councillors Committee on Foreign Affairs and Defense on April 14, argued that an active-duty Self-Defense Forces member singing the national anthem “Kimigayo” at the Liberal Democratic Party convention violated Article 61 of the SDF Act.

This article prohibits SDF personnel from engaging in political activities if they are carried out “for political purposes” or to “have an effect on a specific political party” so that the party can “maintain or expand its strength”.

However, on April 12, a soprano from the Ground SDF Central Band sang Kimigayo at the LDP convention.

Yamazoe pointed out that the GSDF Band’s official website states that the band “cannot accept requests from political parties or in cases where there is a risk of involvement in political activities.”

Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro responded that it did not constitute a violation of the SDF Act because the SDF member in question “participated as a private citizen, not in an official capacity”.

Yamazoe countered, “She appeared in full SDF uniform and her title was announced. Do you still insist that she was a private citizen despite this?” He criticized the Takaichi government, which aims to explicitly stipulate the SDF in the Constitution, for exploiting the performance of Kimigayo by active-duty SDF personnel for political purposes.