Shunji Izutsu

General Shunji “Bert” Izutsu (井筒 俊司) 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.

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

 * Legion Honneur Officier ribbon.svg - Officer, Legion of Honour

Defensive memorial cordon

 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 03.svg 3rd Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 05.svg 5th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 06.svg 6th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 07.svg 7th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 09.svg 9th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 10.svg 10th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 11.svg 11th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 13.svg 13th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 14.svg 14th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 16.svg 16th Defensive Memorial Cordon	with one Silver Cherry Blossom
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 18.svg 18th Defensive Memorial Cordon	with one Gold Cherry Blossom
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 19.svg 19th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 20.svg 20th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 21.svg 21st Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 26.svg 26th Defensive Memorial Cordon	with two Gold Cherry Blossoms
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 31.svg 31st Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 32.svg 32nd Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 33.svg 33rd Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 36.svg 36th Defensive Memorial Cordon
 * Japan Self-Defense Forces Service Ribbon 39.svg 39th Defensive Memorial Cordon