Latest news with #JapanSelf-DefenceForces
The Star
14 hours ago
- General
- The Star
Explosion at a US air base in southern Japan injures four Japanese soldiers
A Japan Self-Defence Forces vehicle enters an area of ammunition store in the town of Yomitanson, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan Monday, June 9, 2025. A yellow sign reads "Bomb Disposal." -- Kyodo News via AP TOKYO (AP): An explosion at a storage site for unexploded ordnance at a US military base on Japan's southern island of Okinawa injured four Japanese soldiers, though the injuries are not life-threatening, officials said Monday. The four soldiers sustained finger injuries while working at a facility that belongs to Okinawa prefecture and temporarily stores unexploded ordnance, mostly from wartime and found on the island, local officials said. One of the harshest battles of World War II was fought on Okinawa. Prefectural officials said the injuries were not life-threatening, but no other details were immediately known. The US Air Force said in a statement that the explosion occurred at the facility managed by the Okinawa prefectural government at Kadena Air Base's munitions storage area. It said no U.S. servicemembers were involved in the incident. The Self Defence Force's joint staff said one of the devices suddenly exploded when the soldiers were inspecting it at the facility. The blast occurred when the soldiers were trying to remove rust, NHK television reported. The SDF said they are trying to confirm what caused the accident. Monday's accident was believed to be the first ever since the 1974 launch of the Japanese army's unexploded ordnance disposal unit. Hundreds of tons of unexploded wartime bombs, many of them dropped by the U.S. military, remain buried around Japan and are sometimes dug up at construction sites and elsewhere. Many of them are still found on Okinawa, where about 1,856 tons of unexploded US bombs are believed to remain. In October, an unexploded wartime US. bomb exploded at a commercial airport in southern Japan, causing a large crater and suspending dozens of flights. - AP
NZ Herald
17 hours ago
- General
- NZ Herald
Okinawa explosion at US base injures four Japanese SDF members
An explosion injured four men at a Japanese facility for storing unexploded bombs at a US air base in Okinawa on Monday, a fire official said, with their condition reportedly not critical. Japan Self-Defence Forces (SDF) members at the facility at Kadena Air Base were trying to wipe rust off
South China Morning Post
21-03-2025
- Politics
- South China Morning Post
Beijing protests over former Japanese military chief's Taiwan adviser role
Beijing has protested to Tokyo over the appointment of a former Japanese military chief as an adviser to the Taiwanese government. Advertisement Taiwanese media reported on Friday that Shigeru Iwasaki, former chief of the Joint Staff of the Japan Self-Defence Forces (JSDF) and a four-star air force general, had been confirmed as an honorary adviser to the Executive Yuan, the Taiwanese government's highest administrative body. An official from the Executive Yuan did not give details of the position but was quoted as saying they were 'willing to listen to and promote any administrative proposal [from the adviser] as long as it is beneficial to Taiwan's development'. The post is unpaid. 01:01 Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack Donald Trump declines to say if US would defend Taiwan against mainland China attack In Beijing, foreign ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning repeated Beijing's position that Taiwan was an inseparable part of China and any external interference on this issue would not be tolerated. Advertisement
