October 23 & 26, 2024

The Japanese Communist Party Kanagawa Prefectural Committee and JCP candidates in the South Kanto bloc in the general election, Hatano Kimie and Yokoyama Seigo, on October 23 near Yokohama Station staged a protest against the launch of the Japan-U.S. joint biennial military exercise “Keen Sword (KS25)”.

Speaking at the protest, Hatano pointed out that during the Keen Sword exercises, the Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military will carry out military training under a scenario of using Okinawa as a battlefield. Noting that Kanagawa will host part of the Keen Sword drill, she said, “Taking into account the latest U.S. military helicopter’s emergency landing on Chigasaki beach, KS25, which may endanger local residents’ safety, should be cancelled.”

The KS25 field training exercise will be held by units from the SDF and the U.S military between October 23 and November 1 at various locations throughout Japan. The Canadian and Australian military forces will also join in some part of the drill. In Okinawa, in particular, with China in mind, massive military exercises, including naval combat training and operational training of air defense systems, will take place. In addition, on Okinawa’s Yonaguni Island, Japan’s westernmost island, Ground SDF Osprey aircraft together with its U.S counterparts will perform a simulated casualty evacuation.

Past related article:
> US military helicopter makes emergency landing on Chigasaki beach [October 13, 2024]