Mr. Bonji Ohara graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 1985 and completed a master’s program at the University of Tsukuba in 1998. He became the leading pilot of the 101st flight division, Maritime Self-Defense Force, in 1998.
He enrolled in the General Course of the National Institute for Defense Studies in 2001. Mr. Ohara was stationed in China between 2003 and 2006 as a Naval Attaché and became a chief of the intelligence section, Maritime Staff Office in Ministry of Defense, in 2006; Executive Officer of the 21st air squadron, MSDF, in 2008; and Commanding Officer of the squadron the following year.
Mr. Ohara joined NIDS as a research fellow in 2010, worked for IHS Jane’s from 2011 as an analyst and business development manager, and for the Tokyo Foundation as a Director of Research before assuming the position of Senior Fellow in the Sasakawa Peace Foundation in June 2017.