September 21, 2018

The head of Abu Town in Prime Minister Abe’s hometown prefecture of Yamaguchi has voiced opposition to the government plan to deploy a land-based Aegis Ashore anti-ballistic missile system to a Self-Defense Forces’ base stretching over the town and Hagi City.

Among local governments hosting the Aegis deployment candidate sites, Abu Town is the first municipality to challenge the central government.

Abu Town Mayor Hanada Norihiko on September 20 at a plenary meeting of the town assembly declared his position to stand against the planned Aegis Ashore deployment. Explaining the reason for this, the mayor said that the candidate site is located near residential areas and added, “It is the mayor’s responsibility to ensure townspeople protection against threats to life.”

The town assembly on the day unanimously adopted a petition calling for the cancellation of the deployment plan. The petition was jointly submitted last week by a residents’ association and four agricultural producers' cooperative corporations. It indicates residents’ concern that if the Aegis Ashore system is deployed, it would cause a harmful effect on the local economy and make the town a target for enemy attacks.

Past related articles:
> Defense Minister faces resistance from governors of candidate prefectures for Aegis Ashore deployment [June 23, 2018]
> JCP Kokuta demands cancellation of plan to deploy land-based Aegis Ashore [June 7, 2018]