Women taking on more frontline roles in Japan's Self-Defense Forces

A growing number of women in Japan's Self-Defense Forces are entering formerly male-dominated fields, with one recently becoming the country's first-ever female fighter jet pilot."I want to become a full-fledged pilot, no different from men," Misa Matsushima, 1st Lt. of the Air Self-Defense Force, told reporters in late August after a ceremony at a base in the southwestern Japanese prefecture of Miyazaki, marking the completion of a training course to become an F-15 fighter pilot.The 26-year-old Matsushima, who stands just 159 centimeters tall, had dreamed of becoming a fighter pilot ever s…READ FULL ARTICLE