Latest news with #Okinawa
Japan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
SDF maritime transport group boosts mobility in contingencies
The Defense Ministry established in March a new unit dedicated to maritime transportation, called the Self-Defense Forces Maritime Transport Group. The group's primary mission is to enhance the rapid movement of personnel and the delivery of supplies using transport vessels, with a particular focus on the Nansei island chain in southwestern Japan, a region increasingly threatened by China's expanding naval presence. The new unit's command is located at the Maritime SDF's Kure Base in Hiroshima Prefecture. Uniquely, most of the unit's personnel are drawn from the Ground SDF. China's ongoing maritime expansion has heightened regional tensions and increased concerns about a potential crisis involving Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing claims as an integral part of its territory. If such a contingency were to occur, there could be implications for the outlying islands of Okinawa Prefecture. Against this backdrop, the Defense Ministry has established SDF garrisons on some islands, including Yonaguni, Ishigaki and Miyako in Okinawa, as well as Amami-Oshima in neighboring Kagoshima Prefecture. Also as part of an initiative known as the "Nansei shift," the ministry has been bolstering its defense capabilities in the region by deploying surface-to-ship missile units, electronic warfare units and other strategic assets. Nevertheless, most SDF units are dispersed across Japan's four main islands, with few training sites located on the outlying island territories. As a result, the GSDF has made mobile deployment a top priority, focusing on the rapid movement of units from their assigned areas in the event of a contingency. To strengthen its response capabilities, the GSDF has been working to improve the readiness of its division and brigade formations. In line with these efforts, the GSDF resumed nationwide exercises in 2021, after a hiatus of about 30 years, with units from across the country mobilized simultaneously. The transportation capability of the SDF was identified as its weakest link. The three transport ships operated by the MSDF, along with two civilian ferries contracted by the GSDF, would not be enough to support the defense and recapture of remote islands in the event of an attack. Moreover, the large size of these vessels restricts them to a limited number of ports. In response to these challenges, the Defense Ministry and the SDF incorporated the establishment of a new transport unit into the 2018 Defense Buildup Program. The Maritime Transport Group currently operates a small-sized Nihonbare-class landing craft utility, or LCU, vessel, which has a displacement of 2,400 tons and measures 80 meters in length. In addition, the group has a medium-sized 3,500-ton Yoko-class landing support vessel, or LSV, measuring 120 meters long. By March 2028, the group plans to expand its fleet by adding another LSV and increasing the number of LCU vessels to four. It also intends to introduce four maneuver support vessels of more compact design, bringing the total fleet size to 10 ships. These will be stationed not only at the Kure Base but also at the MSDF's Hanshin Base in Kobe. The LSVs will primarily operate between Honshu and both Amami-Oshima and Okinawa's main island. For their part, the LCUs will link Okinawa's main island with the islands of Miyako and Ishigaki. The compact maneuver support vessels, designed to bring in supplies from the beach, will be tasked with transporting personnel and delivering goods to small islands that are inaccessible to larger transport vessels. The Maritime Transport Group's small-size Nihonbare-class landing craft utility vessel is docked at the Kure port in Hiroshima Prefecture. | Jiji These new transport operations will be overseen by personnel from the GSDF, despite their lack of experience in operating such ships. The MSDF is unable to provide staff or funding for these missions due to severe personnel shortages, stemming from declining applicant numbers and increased workloads, including territorial waters patrols and joint exercises with foreign militaries. Due to a shortage of available personnel, the GSDF was compelled to find transport crews from within its own ranks of 150,000 members. For this, the GSDF invited applications from personnel interested in joining the Maritime Transport Group. Beginning around 2019, selected members underwent training at various MSDF schools, followed by hands-on experience aboard naval vessels. Differences in culture, terminology and even the precise angle at which salutes are performed between the GSDF and MSDF have made the training process challenging. In one notable instance underscoring the complexities of inter-service collaboration, a GSDF member found himself receiving instruction from an MSDF member who was younger than his own son. At its launch, the new unit had about 100 personnel, but it will require more than 300 members to operate a fleet of 10 ships. To reach this goal, the unit plans to expand its ranks in cooperation with the MSDF. The Defense Ministry also intends to increase the number of civilian vessels contracted by the SDF to eight. In addition, it will promote port enhancements, including the construction of new wharves and the installation of additional cranes. Even so, the new unit will still not be fully equipped. Additional coordination will be needed to increase stockpiles of equipment and materials in the Nansei island chain, which would help reduce the overall amount of transportation required. Another important consideration is how to balance available transportation capacity with the need to efficiently evacuate island residents in the event of an emergency.
The Guardian
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
TV tonight: hurrah for the return of Diane Morgan's hapless heroine
10pm, BBC TwoHurrah for the return of Diane Morgan's gormless heroine in this fourth series. Mandy – quite believably – still hasn't got a job, so in the first of this week's double-bill, she needs to enrol on the Restart scheme. Cue a Pretty Woman style makeover, a run-in with an old school bully ('I've got mental health cos of you!') and a Martin Lewis cameo. Sian Gibson and Cheryl Fergison (Heather from EastEnders) also guest star. Hollie Richardson 8pm, Channel 4In Okinawa, Japan, they're living much longer: it's home to more centenarians than anywhere else on the globe. Filmed before he died, Michael Mosley uncovers a possible explanation. On the Faroe Islands, he joins a women's football team studying bone density, then in Halifax he meets an 84-year-old ballerina who reveals what's really behind muscle strength. Ali Catterall 9pm, BBC TwoElla Al-Shamahi's mind-blowing evolution series continues, and she's showing us how we became the only global species of human – including being the first to make the crossing to Australia about 45,000 years ago. She also learns more about Homo floresiensis, fondly referred to as Hobbits. HR 9pm, ITV1 It's 50 years since Jaws – and ITV claims to be on a mission to celebrate the magnificence of a much-maligned marine species, by encouraging celebrities to swim with 900kg tiger sharks. This episode may have you questioning if there isn't something else going on: because some of these celebrities are quite annoying, aren't they? Ellen E Jones 9pm, Channel 4We're halfway through the steamy thriller and it's the morning after the threesome before. Charlotte (Annabel Scholey) wants to forget about it, Jacob (Sam Palladio) is clearly chuffed about it happening, and Mia (Aggy K Adams) is distracted by learning that her photo is in the local paper. Who is she scared of finding her? More flashbacks give clues. HR 11.05pm, Channel 4A new documentary series gets inside the world of the notorious biker club, with first-hand accounts of the gang's criminal activities. The double-bill fires up by talking with ATF agent Jay Dobyns, who went undercover as an Angel, and biker Jay, who dreams of becoming 'fully patched'. HR
Japan Times
6 days ago
- Politics
- Japan Times
Little-known U.N. Command bases in Japan play a critical security role in Asia
It is a curious point that seven U.S. military bases in Japan fly the United Nations flag. While the reason is rooted in history, its significance for peace on the Korean Peninsula, and with it in the rest of Northeast Asia, is as important today as it has ever been. From Futenma, Kadena and White Beach in Okinawa to Sasebo on Kyushu and Yokota and Yokosuka on Honshu — these flags indicate bases across Japan designated for multinational usage. Alongside the U.S., their operations are overseen by a small but important headquarters west of Tokyo that is part of the United Nations Command (UNC) force structure established in 1950 to support South Korea during the Korean War. It's called the UNC's rear area headquarters — or UNC-Rear — and the roles it plays could prove crucial in the event of a renewed breakout of hostilities on the peninsula as it would facilitate the flow of forces, assets and materiel from nine UNC member states through Japan. While not in command of military forces, the five-member team currently led by Royal Australian Air Force Group Capt. Andrew Johnson would support critical logistical operations through the seven U.S./UNC bases, all of which were designated by both Washington and Tokyo in the 1954 UNC-Japan Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA). 'We prepare and plan for contingency operations and engage with UNC member states constantly so that they know how to access Japan under the SOFA and are familiar with the concept of defending the Korean Peninsula in times of crisis,' Johnson told The Japan Times in an exclusive interview at UNC-Rear's Yokota Air Base headquarters. 'We (UNC-Rear) don't own those forces,' he noted, 'but we can facilitate their entry into Japan and so they can prepare through a process known as RSOI — reception, staging, onward movement and integration — to become part of the fighting force.' UNC-Rear's mission remains as critical as ever, with North Korea improving its nuclear and missile development programs while deepening its military alliance with Russia. UNC-Rear commander, Royal Australian Air Force Group Capt. Andrew Johnson, at the UNC-Rear Command at Yokota Air Base in Fussa, Tokyo, on Tuesday. | GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ Last week, North Korea warned of 'grave consequences' should the United States, Japan and South Korea continue to 'deliberately ignore' its security concerns. The warning followed a recent joint aerial exercise by the three nations that featured at least one U.S. B-52 heavy bomber, marking the aircraft's first deployment to the Korean Peninsula this year. Amid the heightened tensions, Johnson stressed the importance of keeping destabilizing forces in the region at bay, with UNC keeping a laser focus on its main mission: to enforce the terms of the 1953 Korean Armistice Agreement. 'The work that we do as a command, namely to be ready for a contingency or crisis at any moment, has become really important now,' the UNC-Rear director said. Part of the concern, he noted, is that there are already a number of potential flash points throughout the region. 'If North Korea looks like it could be the one triggering the region, then you'd want to make sure that you do everything to deter them as well as prevent any situation that may, for instance, exacerbate the Russian conflict in Ukraine, or whatever else might flow from it.' To maintain both readiness and preparedness, UNC member states regularly send ships, aircraft and personnel to the bases in Japan, rehearsing the procedures necessary to conduct missions during a contingency while also carrying out other activities such as monitoring United Nations sanctions against Pyongyang. However, despite operating under the U.N. Security Council mandate, the UNC is not a subsidiary or subordinate organization of the United Nations. The United Nations's rear area headquarters — also known as UNC-Rear — could prove crucial in the event of a renewed breakout of hostilities on the Korean Peninsula as it would facilitate the rapid flow of forces, assets and materiel from nine UNC member states through Japan. | GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ 'Even though it was established under U.N. Security Council Resolution 84, UNC is a multinational, United States-led command,' Johnson noted, explaining that as there is a standing mandate that does not require follow-on U.N. decision, 'no single country, including Russia or China, can block UNC activation in response to North Korean aggression.' That said, there is no defense treaty between the UNC's 18 member states that binds them to any specific military action in the event of a Korean contingency. Instead, the countries have committed to support the implementation of the armistice and, should North Korea renew hostilities on the Korean Peninsula, be 'united and prompt to resist.' How they do so, however, remains up to the individual governments. 'There is no obligation,' Johnson said. 'Each member state can contribute in any way they want,' he added, pointing to the diverse range of capabilities each can bring to bear, be it in terms of troops, assets or technologies, including in areas such as cyber and space. Others might choose to contribute through financial or other nonlethal support such as logistics or medical aid, he said. Yet there is more to the UNC-Rear's role than logistics and contingency plans. 'From my vantage point, our mission is also to continue working closely with the Japanese government to support peace and security in Northeast Asia, which is in our nations' best interests,' Johnson said. 'We give them a broad outline of the types of UNC activities that are occurring so they're aware of both the flow and effect that these have on Japanese security.' 'The work that we do as a command, namely to be ready for a contingency or crisis at any moment, has become really important now,' Johnson said. | GABRIEL DOMINGUEZ Maintaining close relations with Japan is important not only with regard to the bases, but also the intermediate staging areas that UNC forces would be using in the event of a conflict. At the same time, the UNC-Rear coordinates requirements on behalf of the nine SOFA signatories with Tokyo while also relaying Japanese interests to the UNC headquarters in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, which has a staff of around 90 multinational personnel along with three other subordinate organizations such as the U.N. Command Military Armistice Commission. The much larger UNC, which marked its 75th anniversary this month, fulfills other roles, including co-administering the Korean Demilitarized Zone with the (North) Korean People's Army, building interoperability between allies and facilitating dialogue with North Korea. These roles have come into focus as Tokyo seeks to manage regional security challenges. While Japan hasn't joined UNC as a formal member state, cooperation with the command allows routine engagement with multinational forces and meaningful contributions to the effort to preserve peace on the Korean Peninsula. Experts say that UNC has played a quiet but consistent role over the years. While it has evolved with time, having an organization specifically dedicated to deterrence through a ready-made coalition has helped temper potential clashes and manage escalation in the region. They also say that UNC-Rear is a reminder of the important role that Japan plays in any Korean Peninsula conflict. The small multinational team is prepared to continue this decades-long work in collaboration with the Japanese government and other partners. 'We are in this for the security of Northeast Asia,' Johnson noted, 'so we do work towards the mutual outcome of peace and stability for the region.'
Japan Times
16-07-2025
- Politics
- Japan Times
Prodigal Hokkaido son returns to campaign trail for last run in Upper House election
In an Upper House election where many candidates and parties are striving to win over voters in the major cities, 77-year-old Hokkaido native Muneo Suzuki, running as a Liberal Democratic Party proportional candidate, says his campaign strategy is decidedly different. 'I traveled to Yonaguni, in Okinawa, the westernmost part of Japan. The suffering, sadness and hardship of the remote islands, as well as the harshness of living on the border of Japan requires political action,' Suzuki told a crowd in Sapporo last Saturday. On July 3, the kickoff day for the Upper House election, Suzuki cheered other LDP candidates in Sapporo, flew to Nosappu Cape adjacent to the Northern Territories — the four islands of Kunashiri, Etorofu, Habomai, and Shikotan off the coast of Hokkaido that Russia seized from Japan at the end of World War II — and flew down to Okinawa Prefecture. The next day, he began his campaign in Yonaguni and other islands next to Taiwan, visited Naha, and then traveled to Kobe and Osaka for stump speeches. Suzuki is running in the nationwide proportional representation system, where people vote for a party and the parties distribute seats won among their candidates based on the number of votes it received. In Yonaguni, he told his Sapporo audience, everyone asked him why he chose to come, as the island has only 1,390 votes. 'I've been involved in political activities in such places (as Yonaguni) for 43 years, and my mindset is that one vote in Yonaguni is worth 500 votes in Tokyo,' he said. While other candidates under the proportional representation system prioritize major cities and social media, Suzuki has long pursued grassroots strategies. In the 2019 Upper House election, he won over 220,000 votes as a proportional representative for Nippon Ishin no Kai. In the same Sapporo speech, Suzuki also touted Hokkaido's indigenous Ainu population as a key local cultural reason why the prefecture is attracting more international attention. 'As an indigenous minority group, the Ainu people have long valued and protected the environment, something the world is paying attention to,' he said. Suzuki's personality and past actions make him a divisive political figure. During his long career, he became known as an expert on Hokkaido and Okinawa, as well as foreign affairs and defense issues. He served in parliamentary vice minister posts for defense and for foreign affairs, and was state minister for the Hokkaido and Okinawa Development Agency. Suzuki was also known as a strong advocate of Japan's relationship with Russia, and worked to promote visits by the former residents of the Northern Territories to their ancestral graves, as well as people-to-people exchanges between Russians and Japanese. He was also often at the center of controversy. In 2002, following a bribery scandal, Suzuki quit the LDP. He was then forced to resign from parliament in 2010 after a final conviction for bribery and other offenses. Suzuki went to prison but was released on parole in December 2011 and lost the right to run or vote in an election until 2017. He did not return to parliament, however, until the 2019 Upper House election, as a proportional representative for Nippon Ishin no Kai, winning more votes than any of the party's other proportional candidates. However, Suzuki got into trouble in October 2023, when he traveled to Moscow in the hope of realizing direct visits by the aging former islanders to the Northern Territories, which had been suspended after Russia's February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. The visit drew criticism from Nippon Ishin, and Suzuki resigned from the party that same month. The upcoming Upper House race marks a homecoming of sorts for Suzuki, who returns to the LDP after 23 years, in the latest twist in a political career that began with winning a Hokkaido Lower House district seat in 1983. Suzuki said he decided to return to the LDP because it was the party that helped rebuild Japan in the post-World War II period, and that, as a conservative politician supporting those efforts, he wanted to help the party regain public trust. But in Hokkaido, his supporters remain loyal less for his foreign policy expertise or relationship with Russia and more for his past success in getting central government money for building Hokkaido roads, bridges, dams and other projects. In his stump speech last Saturday in Sapporo, Suzuki touched on this by saying that he would push for more money for further developing Hokkaido's expressways. 'Suzuki is one of the last traditional pork barrel politicians. In Hokkaido, there are areas that lag behind urban areas in infrastructure development. He has met the expectations of local voters by obtaining large central government budgets for such projects,' said Kentaro Yamamoto, a political scientist at Kokugakuin University. 'Although LDP politicians from local areas are more or less pork barrel types, it's rare to find one who has been as thorough and effective in working with voters as Suzuki," he added. "Voters may also be influenced by their own bias towards the difficult path in life Suzuki has walked." But as Sunday's election grows closer, it remains unclear whether past loyalties among voters in Hokkaido, Okinawa, or elsewhere will be enough to secure him a seat as a party proportional candidate. He admitted the LDP was in a tough position and that his chances of winning were said to be borderline, but that, regardless of what happened, this was his last election. If Suzuki loses and does retire, it would be the end of an era, but not the end of the Suzuki family in Hokkaido and Japanese politics. His 39-year-old daughter Takako, a LDP Lower House member representing a Hokkaido district that includes Kushiro and Nemuro, is continuing her father's legacy.
NHK
16-07-2025
- Science
- NHK
Remains in Okinawa may be American, isotope analysis suggests
An analysis method has found that remains collected in Okinawa last year may be those of an American. The southern Japanese prefecture is known for the Battle of Okinawa, a campaign of fierce ground fighting 80 years ago at the end of World War Two. The finding is based on what is known as stable isotope analysis. The method can be used to assess where a person was born by analyzing ratios of carbon and other isotopes. Researchers, including those of the Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry, say they used the method to analyze remains collected in April last year in a forest of Nishihara Town on Okinawa's main island. They got the results in May this year. In response to the report, Scientific Analysis Director John Byrd from the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency is visiting in Japan. On Tuesday, he inspected the site where the remains were discovered. Byrd then visited a prefectural organization that handles matters related to the remains of war dead. He was briefed on the study and received the remains. He plans to identify them by conducting DNA analysis in the US. He said he wants to work with Japan and other related countries to make sure that remains are returned to their bereaved families. Stable isotope analysis is helpful in determining where a person was born relatively quickly, and is commonly used in the US along with DNA analysis. But in Japan, the method is used only in limited areas, including Okinawa, as it is still considered to be in the research stage. Bereaved families of war dead are paying close attention to whether the method will be applied more widely to analyze remains, including those found overseas. In Japan, the remains of many war dead have yet to be analyzed.
