You know that old anti-war cliché about "Suppose They Gave A War And No One Came"? Well that slogan might be closer to becoming reality than you think.

Exhibit A: This story from Japan Today. "SDF recruiters struggle as applicant pool dries up."

You see, it seems that recruiters are having a tougher time than ever selling Japan's youth on the glitz and glamour of a career in the nation's "Self-Defense Force" (aka Japan's Stealth Army). The country's infamous plummeting birth rate has created a shortage of 18-26 year olds in the job market (11 million today compared to 17 million just 24 years ago), meaning that universities and corporations are viciously competing to recruit high school graduates. And that competition has left those struggling to sell teenagers on the benefits of joining the military in the dust.