Shunji Izutsu

General is a former military officer of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force who most notably served as the branch’s 35th Chief of Staff From 2020 until his retirement in 2023.

Biography Career Born on 26 March 1964 in Chiba Prefecture Izutsu graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in March 1986 and joined the Japan Air Self-Defense Force with the rank of Second Lieutenant.

His early career was spent as a pilot flying the Mcdonnell Douglas F-4EJ Phantom II and the Mitsubishi F-15J with over 2,700 hours of successful mission flight time. By 2000 he was a Lieutenant Colonel and in 2002 Izutsu was appointed to the Air Staff Office.

In 2005 he was promoted to Colonel and attended the Air Staff College, the next year he returned to the Air Staff Office before being assigned to the command staff of the 7th Air Wing.

In 2011 he was promoted to Major General and put in command of the 6th Air Wing before being made Deputy Commander of the Southwestern Air Defense Force the following year.

In 2017 he was promoted to Lieutenant General and put in charge of the Western Air Defense Force followed by his appointment as commander of the Air Defense Command in 2019.

In 2020 he was promoted to General and made Chief of Staff of the Air Self-Defense Force, a position he held until his retirement on 30 March 2023.

Later life After his retirement Izutsu become the Vice President of Astroscale Japan a subsidiary of Astroscale, a private multinational space debris removal company headquartered in Tokyo.

Awards

Defensive memorial cordon