is a Japanese writer who formerly held the rank of

major Major (commandant in certain jurisdictions) is a military rank of commissioned officer status, with corresponding ranks existing in many military forces throughout the world. When used unhyphenated and in conjunction with no other indicators ...

in the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

. He is a graduate of and the , where he took courses in

psychological warfare Psychological warfare (PSYWAR), or the basic aspects of modern psychological operations (PsyOp), have been known by many other names or terms, including Military Information Support Operations (MISO), Psy Ops, political warfare, "Hearts and Mi ...

. In 1992, while still employed by the SDF as an instructor of

military history Military history is the study of armed conflict in the history of humanity, and its impact on the societies, cultures and economies thereof, as well as the resulting changes to local and international relationships. Professional historians norma ...

, he published an article in Japanese magazine '' Shūkan Bunshun'' in which he suggested that a coup was necessary to clean up corruption in the Japanese political establishment. The incident was described as "an extreme source of embarrassment" for the SDF; the public were more amused than outraged by the article, and even some of Yanai's colleagues anonymously referred to him as a "crackpot". In response, the SDF dismissed Yanai from his post. He was the first officer in any branch of the

Self Defense Forces A self-defense force (SDF) is, in its stricter terms, a defense force composed by the local inhabitants of a territory joint together in order to protect themselves, their territory, their property, or their laws. The term, however, has come to ref ...

to be dismissed in response to his authorship of a newspaper article.

References

1947 births Japan Ground Self-Defense Force personnel Living people Writers from Fukushima Prefecture {{japan-mil-bio-stub