Japan's military is revisiting a ban on the recruitment of people with body tattoos amid a sharp decline in the combat-ready population..

Tattoos have long been associated in Japan with belonging to the yakuza criminal gangs, and in many areas of the country's life, they have long been taboo.. However, now the authorities admit: tattoos in the modern world are rarely directly related to crime..

According to the latest research, the Japanese army lacks 10% of employees.

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The ban also needs to be reconsidered in connection with the decline in the birth rate in Japan, said the head of the personnel bureau of the Ministry of Defense of Japan, Kazuhito Machida..

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About 125 million people live in Japan. Less than 800,000 children were born there last year, compared with over 2 million in the 1970s..

Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has previously said that Japan must deal with its shrinking and aging population "

Meanwhile, tensions in the Asia-Pacific region (the policy of China and North Korea) and the Russian invasion of Ukraine are pushing Japan to make significant changes in its defense policy.. In recent years, the Japanese are increasingly inclined to abandon the pacifist policy proclaimed after the Second World War and strengthen the armed forces..