Captain

Miho Otani
Native name
大谷 三穂
Born (1971-05-28) May 28, 1971
AllegianceJapan
Service/branchJapan Maritime Self-Defense Force
RankCaptain
Commands heldJS Yamagiri, JS Myōkō

Captain Miho Otani (大谷 三穂) (born May 28, 1971) is an officer in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force. She was the first woman to become the captain of a naval training vessel and a destroyer. Otani was also a member of the first female class to enter the National Defense Academy of Japan.

Career

Otani initially planned to study at Ryukoku University. When she was in her second year of high school she saw news about the Gulf War and decided to apply to the National Defense Academy of Japan instead.[1][2] Though her family did not approve, she entered the Academy in April 1992 as a member of the first female class.[3] At first she wanted to be a pilot, but she ended up being assigned to the Maritime Self-Defense Force, where she worked on the training ship JDS Natsugumo.

The ban on women serving in destroyers had been lifted in 2008, and so in 2011 she became the vice captain of JS Asagiri. In March 2013, Otani became the captain of the training ship Shimayuki. Alongside Ryoko Azuma, she was the first woman to become the captain of a training ship.[4][5] In February 2016, Otani took command of JS Yamagiri, making her the first woman in the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force to command a destroyer.[6][7] On July 1, 2017, she was promoted to captain. On December 2, 2019, She took command of JS Myōkō making her the first woman to command a JMSDF Aegis destroyer.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "「艦長になる自信あります」女性初の護衛艦副長、２年目の決意". 産経WEST. 2013-03-11. Retrieved 2017-02-01.
  2. ↑ Akiyama, Hiroyuki (June 30, 2016). "Mother, trailblazer, Japanese destroyer skipper". Nikkei Asian Review. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  3. ↑ Lewis, Leo (2016-06-03). "Shinzo Abe's 'womenomics' programme all at sea". Financial Times. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
  4. ↑ "海自「艦長の夢かなった」". 福島民報. 2013-03-22. Archived from the original on March 27, 2013. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  5. ↑ "泣く泣く娘を両親に預け…海上自衛隊練習艦女性艦長". 女性自身. 2013-06-09. Archived from the original on 2016-04-23. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  6. ↑ "＜元気人＠かながわ＞海自護衛艦 初の女性艦長　大谷三穂さん（４５歳）". 東京新聞. 2016-07-18. Archived from the original on 2017-01-08. Retrieved 2017-01-08.
  7. ↑ Demetriou, Danielle (2016-06-05). "Meet Japan's first female warship captain". The Telegraph. ISSN 0307-1235. Retrieved 2019-09-26.
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