I get the feeling that the first paragraph or so is trying to make this Japanese school sound somewhat dystopian. I can't help but be amused by that, thinking back on reciting the Pledge of Allegiance every day in gradeschool.
What if it did though? What if an army was a self sustaining force? Gathering raw materials from the land, reproducing quickly to fill its ranks. That sounds horrible, like ants... sorry for the weirdo sci-fi tangent.