The Marines at Camp Fuji had never trained with their counterparts at five surrounding Ground Self-Defense Force garrisons before the Shinka exercise in 2021, Bodisch wrote. A second, monthlong exercise was held in March.
Shinka, which translates to “infinitely improving,” paired two Marine infantry companies against a Japanese mechanized battalion, according to the Marine Corps and Indo-Pacific Command. The exercise allowed both sides to flex their muscles in a multidomain setting, Bodisch said.
Shinka proved valuable for both militaries in many areas, Bodisch wrote, and helped hone them as stand-in forces ready to fight on key island terrain. The stand-in force concept is a part of Marine Commandant Gen. David Berger’s Force Design 2030 doctrine.
But a year later, just after the second Shinka exercise, Kondo retired. During the award ceremony at III MEF headquarters, Kondo said his enthusiasm for bilateral training had hit a political ceiling.
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