Photo/Illutration A helicopter is on display at the Ground Self-Defense Force Public Information Center at Asaka Camp in Saitama Prefecture. In addition to learning about the history and missions of the GSDF, visitors can enjoy interactive exhibits such as shooting and flight simulators. (Photo by Lisa Vogt)

Once a post station known for its copper crafts on the Kawagoe Kaido highway--which ran from Itabashi-shuku station through Nerima, Shirako and Hizaori to the gates of Kawagoe Castle during the Edo Period (1603-1867)--Asaka in Saitama Prefecture has shape-shifted with the times.

Tokyo Golf Club, which opened in Tokyo’s Komazawa in 1914, was moved in 1932 to Asaka, where movers and shakers built an international first-class golf course.

Prince Asakanomiya Yasuhiko (1887-1981) became the club’s honorary chairman, and that’s the derivation of the place name.

Shortly after the impressive golf course opened, war drums grew louder by the day, and it was requisitioned and then purchased by the Imperial Japanese Army. After the war, Asaka became a recreational facility for the U.S. occupational forces, who renamed it Camp Drake. Today, it’s home to the Ground Self-Defense Force's Asaka Camp.

I heard about the GSDF’s Public Information Center in the Asaka Camp and was intrigued.

I went online to make a reservation to visit and to my surprise, was greeted by Hiyoko Taiin, a smiling, “kawaii” yellow egg-like mascot character with rose pink cheeks, who was jumping up and down on the screen in delight.

A colorful banner saying “Rikkun Land” in hiragana was splashed across the page.

Information about the museum on the premises had the caption “Waku-waku! Doki doki ga tomaranai!” with two more similar cutesy characters, one in duty uniform and another in combat fatigues. This soft imagery softens the seriousness of the work men and women in the SDF do and makes the services appear amicable.

In most countries, such promotional sites are created with the warrior archetype in mind. I smile at this quintessentially Japanese approach to recruitment and PR.

At Rikkun Land, visitors can learn about the GSDF’s organization and the roles it assumes. A helicopter and tanks, bombs, rifles, helmets, boots, gas masks and more are on display.

Heatable rations looked pretty good--grilled pork ginger, sweet and spicy stewed saury, “hayashi hambagu,” and bento packages that stay edible for three years. There’s a flight simulator and a 3-D movie theater with seats that vibrate when onscreen tanks fire rounds.

Next to the public information center is the Shinbu-dai Kinenkan. The classic wooden structure was brought to Asaka from Zama, Kanagawa Prefecture, and used initially to house Imperial Japanese Army cadets.

When Emperor Hirohito visited in 1943, he told the soldiers to “train hard and overcome obstacles.” Henceforth, the academy was called Shinbu-dai.

Outside are several stone monuments called Yohaijo, where students faced the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and paid their respects. A salute to Asaka.

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This article by Lisa Vogt, a Washington-born and Tokyo-based photographer, originally appeared in the Aug. 21 issue of Asahi Weekly. It is part of the series "Lisa’s Wanderings Around Japan," which depicts various places across the country through the perspective of the author, a professor at Meiji University.

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