The Music Corps (Japanese: 音楽隊|Ongakutai) is a department of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force that is tasked with presiding over military bands in the JGSDF. Similarly, the Maritime Self-Defense Force and the Air Self Defense Force each have a music corps. JGSDF military bands regularly participate in international festivals and take part in national and branch-related events. It is roughly the equivalent to the Royal Corps of Army Music (CAMUS) in the British Army or the Music Branch (Canadian Forces).
The JGSDF adopted a more western style military band, which originated in Japan during the Meiji Restoration, which saw the reform of the armed forces to the standards of Western armed services. The JGSDF's bands also carry on the practice of bugle call playing, with bugle platoons present in every unit in the JGSDF using G major bugles. As a JSDF military band, the JGSDF Central Band frequently renders honors in national and local performances, including events for honoured imperial guests and official dignitaries.[1] [2] It is the main sponsor for the JSDF Marching Festival. The JGSDF Music Corps also occasionally performs music from well known Anime.
The JGSDF Music Corps consists of the Central Band, five army bands, nine division bands and six brigade bands.
| Unit Name: | Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band |
| Native Name: | 陸上自衛隊中央音楽隊 |
| Country: |  Japan |
| Type: | Military band |
| Dates: | June 1951 – present |
| Size: | About 100 personnel |
| Garrison: | Camp Asaka, Nerima, Tokyo |
| Current Commander: | Colonel Takahiro Higuchi[3] [4] |
The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Central Band or JGSDF Central Band is the premier military band of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Its more senior activities consist of national ceremonies, military parades, and symphonic concerts taking place in the capital of Tokyo Metropolis. It also performs at events that also includes joint service concerts alongside other Japanese military bands such as the Maritime and Air Self-Defense Forces Central Bands. The Central Band also presides over all military bands of the Ground Self-Defense Force and is modeled on its military counterparts in the United States and the United Kingdom. The band is a directly reporting unit of the Ministry of Defense.
The JGSDF Band was created in the summer of 1951 under the as part of the National Police Reserve (formerly the National Safety Force), the predecessor agency of the JGSDF. With the NPR only being an armed national police force rather than a national military, the JGSDF Band was the first military band to form in modern Japan. Its history is rooted in the long heritage of Japanese military music, and more specifically the Imperial Japanese Army Band beginning in the 1880s. In the last half-century, the JGSDF Band has gained the nobility of being the senior most ground force and self-defence force wind band, serving as one of many ceremonial military and paramilitary units that serve the Emperor and the Imperial Family during state visits and other official functions.[5] Musicians of the band have since 2015 taught personnel of the Papua New Guinea Defence Forces Band.[6] It participated in the 2019 edition of the Spasskaya Tower Military Music Festival and Tattoo.[7]