The female marines Japan is training for war

Hikari Maruyama, 38, and Runa Kurosawa, 20, soldiers with the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade take part in military training. - Reuters

TOKYO: Hikari Maruyama, Runa Kurosawa and Sawaka Nakano are part of an elite force: Japan's Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB), meant to lead assaults from the sea in a possible future war.

They are also three of about 40 women in their 2,400-person unit.