Shinsaku Yanai

is a Japanese writer who formerly held the rank of major in the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

Early life Yanai is a graduate of and the , where he took courses in psychological warfare.

Writing career

Scandal and exit from SDF In 1992, while still employed by the SDF as an instructor of military history, he published an article in Japanese magazine Shūkan Bunshun in which he suggested that a coup was necessary to clean up corruption in the Japanese political establishment. The incident was described as "an extreme source of embarrassment" for the SDF; the public were more amused than outraged by the article, and even some of Yanai's colleagues anonymously referred to him as a "crackpot". In response, the SDF dismissed Yanai from his post. He was the first officer in any branch of the Self Defense Forces to be dismissed in response to his authorship of a newspaper article.

Books As well as political writing, Yanai has authored a number of books about shocking torture and execution methods throughout the ages.