Major General, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (Ret.)
Professor, College of Risk Management, Nihon University
Major General Yoshitomi retired from Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) in 2015 after 32- year military service as a field artillery officer, intelligence analyst, instructor, and researcher. His major assignments were a Chief of Strategy & Concept Division in GSDF Research and Development Command, a Professor of the National Defense Academy of Japan, a Counsellor of the Cabinet Intelligence and Research Office, and a Commander of the 1st Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment in GSDF.
He graduated from the National Defense Academy in 1983 majoring in international relations. He received a Master’s Degree in International Security from the Graduate School of Takushoku University in 2006. He also completed Command and General Staff Course and Advanced General Staff Course at the GSDF Staff College.
After retirement from GSDF, he joined into the academic sector as a professor in College of Risk Management, Nihon University. He teaches risk and crisis management, disaster response, and Japan’s defense policy. His research covers wide range of issues including Japan’s defense strategy, GSDF’s defense posture, Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HA/DR), and civil-military collaboration.
His recent works in English include “Shore to Shore Amphibious Assault” (U.S. Naval Institute Proceedings, July 2020); “Japan’s Disaster” (Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies; Disaster Response Regional Architectures, Assessing Future Possibilities, September 2017); and “Japan’s Capacity Building for Vietnam: Cooperating with the United States for Maritime Security in the South China Sea” (Research Institute for Peace and Security, RIPS Policy Perspectives, No.22, February 2015).
While teaching at university, he works as an Associate of Cheltons Consulting Ltd and BMT.
