女子参加日本海上自卫队人数增加

Answering thecall: The women on the front lines of Japan's defense（防御，防守

Yokosuka, Japan(CNN) The first time 22-year-old Akiko Hirayama stepped on board a navy（海军） ship, she was transfixed by the hardware.

"I was soamazed by all the torpedoes（鱼雷） and missiles（导弹）on the ship andits labyrinthine（复杂的，迷宫似的）layout," said Hirayama. "I'dnever seen anything like that before."

Hirayama, a formerairport security guard now aged 23, had swung by theJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force's (JMSDF)（日本海上自卫队） publicfestival out of curiosity. Six months later, devastating（毁灭性的）floods submerged（潜入） her hometown in Okayamaprefecture（冈山县区） in western Japan. Moved by how Japan's Self-DefenseForces (JSDF) helped her family and friends during the reliefoperations, Hirayama decided to join up.

With more than300,000 personnel（人员）, the JSDF was the world's eighthmost-powerful military in 2018, according to an armedforces（军事武装） strengthranking site globalfirepower.com. Formed after World War II to defend Japanese territory（领土）, its visibility（能见度，明显性） has grownin recent years amid escalating（逐步上升的） tensions（紧张） with North Korea and China.

The JSDF is --perhaps controversially -- adding new units, ships and aircraft tomeet those threats, but it also faces a challenge from within: A shrinking（下降的，缩小的） population.

"In theinternational arena, many people think that North Korea or China is the biggerthreat to Japan," said Robert Eldridge, an author and expert on US-Japanmilitary relations. "But it's the demographics（人口统计学） that pose abigger challenge."

Japan's populationis expected to fall from 124 million to 88 million by 2065. Faced with theprospect of having fewer potential recruits（新兵）, the JSDF isaccepting a wider age range of candidates. Previously, recruits had to be under27 years old, but now anyone over 18 and up to 32 years old can join.

And it'sincreasingly turning to women to fill its ranks.