Japan’s Fuji Firepower Review Goes Livestream-Only
Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force has announced that future editions of the Fuji Firepower Review will no longer be open to members of the public.
In a March 31 release, the JGSDF announced that its largest annual live-fire exercise of the year would be held on May 27.
The same release stated that the 2023 edition of the Firepower Review and future editions will no longer be open to the public, citing an increasingly harsh and complex regional security situation that requires strengthened defensive capabilities. As a result, the Firepower Review will be refocused on the exercise’s original goals of educating and training JGSDF service members.
Fuji Firepower Reviews going forward will only be accessible to the public through official YouTube livestreams. Firepower Reviews since 2020 have been livestreamed on the JGSDF’s official YouTube channel, as a result of Japanese COVID-19 pandemic management regulations that prohibited large gatherings of spectators.
Recent editions of the Firepower Review have focused on simulating scenarios where the JGSDF has to repel an invasion of Japan’s outlying islands, with last year’s edition seeing the debut participation of the JGSDF’s V-22 Osprey in combination with the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade.
The Fuji Firepower Review has been held at the East Fuji Exercise Area in the foothills of Mount Fuji since 1961. The exercise had been open to the Japanese public from its 1966 edition onwards to provide visitors with a better understanding of the JGSDF’s capabilities. Public admission was provided through a lottery system, with the 2019 edition having 20,000 civilian attendees winning tickets out of reportedly 30 times the amount that entered.
Originally held in late August or early September, the Firepower Review was brought forward to May in 2020 in order to not conflict with the Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics originally planned to be held that year. Subsequent Firepower Reviews have been held in May as well, with the new date also freeing up JGSDF manpower for disaster relief in late summer.