TOKYO. May 30 (Interfax) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu on Thursday visited the command center of the Japan Ground Self-Defence Force (JGSDF) at Camp Asaka in Tokyo.
Shoigu is the first foreign military chief to have visited the center which opened at the Central Readiness Force base in March 2018, the Japanese military said.
The Ground Force headquarters is the supreme command body of the Japanese armed forces and is in charge of organizing and supervising ground missions in peacetime and wartime and controlling forces reporting directly to the commander. The Ground Force headquarters reports to the Joint Staff.
The 91-hectare garrison in situated in northwestern Tokyo (Nerima district). It also houses several other headquarters, military units, a Ground Force transport school, a military physical fitness school, a central band, and a detachment for training servicewomen.
The garrison also houses a public relations center which organizes tours for Japanese citizens to introduce them to the national armed forces' history and showcase some models of weapon and military hardware.
Every three years the camp hosts parades organized alternately by the branches of the Japanese armed forces.