Kharkiv batra, reporting for duty his real name is mizuho kobayashi, but batra fits better with his online persona. He creates video blogs. The 31 year old previously served in the Japanese Armed forces, or the selfDefense Forces as theyre known here. He still feels a connection with the military and is voluntarily seeking to recruit more young people. His sign reads would you go to the selfDefense Forces . What have you heard about what its like in the army . Its really strict. Im not a morning person. I dont want to get up so early. Its hard work. They even have to go out when it snows, and sleep in a tent. The training is really tough. People rarely say yes. Young people often dont know much about the selfDefense Forces. And theyre not interested. Theyre mostly indifferent, neither positive nor negative. At the headquarters of the Armys First Division in tokyo, new recruits come to swear an oath of allegiance. But the chairs are largely empty. The army is especially short of ground
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