Japan Press Weekly

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2012 October 10 - 16 [SDF]

Japan responsible for defense of its island: Japan-US agreement

Moves by China and North Korea have been always used as an excuse to strengthen the Japan-U.S. alliance and the Self-Defense Forces. Currently, the issue of the territorial dispute over the Senkaku Islands is linked to the forcible deployment of the U.S. Marine Corps’ Osprey aircraft to Okinawa. This link, however, is questioned by many military experts.

The Defense Ministry in June 2011 published a document regarding the “significance and role” of the U.S. Marines in Japan, which stated, “For defense of our country which has many islands, the amphibious assault capability of the U.S. Marines in Okinawa is indispensable.”

If an emergency situation occurs at a remote island of Japan, the marines’ helicopters in Okinawa will transfer Ground SDF personnel and scramble to the area, it also stated. The helicopters here include Osprey.

However, the Japan-U.S. agreement on the realignment of the U.S. forces in Japan in October 2005 states, “Japan will defend itself and respond to situations in areas surrounding Japan, including addressing new threats and diverse contingencies such as ballistic missile attacks, attacks by guerilla and special forces, and invasion of remote islands.”

A former government official who was dealing with security policies asserted, “The document is still effective, and the U.S. Forces, as a matter of course, will not deal with the defense of Japan’s islands.”