Education

The National Institute for Defense Studies (NIDS) provides education for civilian officials of the Ministry of Defense (MOD) and other governmental agencies, as well as senior officers of the Self-Defense Forces (SDF). The goal is to give them a broad perspective on national security.
The importance of senior-level education at the NIDS continues to grow, as the roles of the MOD and SDF widen to include international activities such as peacekeeping operations and confidence building.
The NIDS annually offers three academic programs; the Regular Course, the Special Course, and Categoly-I Civil Service Officials Course.

The Regular Course is mainly designed for colonel/captain and lieutenant colonel/commander-grade officers from the three services of the SDF and civilian officials of the MOD. The course lasts one academic year, or 10 months, from the beginning of September until the following June.
The Regular Course covers a wide range of issues, such as the foundations of national security, military strategy, military history, science and technology, economy, international relations, domestic affairs and national security policy-making. The students achieve perspectives on a wide variety of issues that form national security and explore the way of defense policy of Japan through this academic program. At the same time, they improve their insight and improve their ability to think logically and flexibly to see the essence of the matter.
The student body also includes officials from other governmental agencies and those from private sectors, and colonel/captain and lieutenant colonel/commander-grade officers from abroad.

The NIDS offers the Special Course. This is a three-week intensive course of study conducted in July. The Special Course is mainly intended for major general/ rear admiral and colonel/ captain-grade officers of the SDF and equivalent-rank civilian officials of the MOD.
The course put stress on study of current policy agenda as well as international relations, security and defense issues. The division director-level officials from other ministries and those from private business also join the student body.

The Category-I Civil Service Officials Course is annually conducted for about twelve weeks from September through December. It is conducted for those who passed the Category-I Civil Service Examination, administered by the National Personnel Authority, which is designed to select future candidates for high positions within government ministries. They attend the course after two years of service at the MOD.

The curriculum includes theory and policy of national security, security policies of major countries of the world. It is designed to introduce the students to international relations, strategic theory and military affairs and provided them an opportunity to consider Japan’s defense policy from total perspective.

Note: Class-I Civil Service Officials are those in civil service, who passed the Class I Civil Service Examination, administered by the National Personnel Authority, which is designed to pick up future candidates for high positions within government ministries.