With tensions on the rise due to China’s growing regional assertiveness, the idea of strengthening the Self-Defense Forces in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, as part of a larger strategy of building up defenses in the Nansei Islands, has gained momentum.
The issue was at the forefront of Sunday’s mayoral election in Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, which saw victory for the incumbent mayor, Yoshitaka Nakayama, an independent endorsed by the ruling coalition and a supporter of the deployment of Ground Self-Defense Forces in the region.
What are the Nansei Islands?
There are 198 islands belonging to the group, which stretches across an area about 1,200 kilometers long, running from southern Kyushu to Taiwan, and 1,000 kilometers wide.
They include the Satsunan Islands in the north, which are administered by Kagoshima Prefecture and include Amami Oshima. The Nansei Island chain continues southwest from Okinawa’s main island across Miyakojima and Ishigakijima, ending at Yonaguni, over 2,000 km from Tokyo. Taiwan, just 125 km away, can be seen on sunny days.
The Senkaku Islands, which China claims, lie 150 km from Yonaguni and 170 km from both Ishigaki and Taiwan. They are also part of the Nansei Islands chain.
Where are the SDF bases on the Nansei Islands located?
There are numerous SDF units located on the Nansei Islands. From 2016, new GSDF and Air Self-Defense Force units have been added.
These include the establishment of an ASDF unit in Naha and a GSDF observation unit on Yonaguni in 2016, an ASDF aircraft control and warning unit in Naha in 2017, GSDF bases on Amami Oshima and Miyakojima in 2019 and a GSDF surface-to-ship missile defense battery on Miyakojima in 2020. A GSDF anti-aircraft artillery group moved from Kyushu down to Miyakojima the same year.
Ground Self-Defense Force soldiers stand at the entrance to the Yonaguni base on Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture in October. | REUTERS
A GSDF amphibious brigade established in 2018 in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, will be deployed to defend the Nansei Islands in a crisis. Maritime Self-Defense Forces surveillance aircraft are stationed in Naha.
Additional planned bases include a training site for SDF and U.S. military aircraft on Mageshima, an uninhabited island in Kagoshima.
Why has Japan felt it necessary to build up the Nansei Islands area?
Because of the vast size of the area and increased Chinese pressure in the region.
In the eyes of the Japanese government, China has taken actions incompatible with international law that can be regarded as attempts to change the status quo by coercion. That is especially the case in the maritime and aerial domains in the East and South China seas — there have been intrusions into Japan’s territorial waters and airspace around the Senkaku Islands, which are located in the former.
Chinese military aircraft have also repeatedly passed between Okinawa’s main island and Miyakojima in recent years. In fiscal 2020, which began in April of that year, Japanese planes scrambled 458 times against Chinese aircraft nationwide. And around the Senkaku Islands, Japan identified incursions by 300 Chinese coast guard vessels over 81 days.
Self-Defense Force soldiers next to a Patriot missile unit on the island of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, in February 2016 | KYODO
The Japanese government sees that the relationship between China and Taiwan, while economically deep, has been affected by changes in the military balance. Given the proximity of Taiwan to the Nansei Islands, that shift has direct security implications for Japan, as China views Taiwan as a breakaway province.
What is the plan for Ishigaki and what has been the reaction of local residents?
Surface-to-air and surface-to-ship missile units along with 570 GSDF members are planned to be deployed to Ishigaki this year. Residents have been almost evenly split on the issue, with some fearful that it would make Ishigaki a prime target in an attack, while others are in favor of the base due to the economic benefits it would likely bring.
Nakayama, the pro-base Ishigaki mayor, won re-election over Yoshiyuki Toita, his anti-base opponent who had the backing of Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki and his anti-base coalition. Nakayama received 14,761 votes to Toita’s 12,307, and the voter turnout rate was 70.54%.
Nakayama’s victory was not unexpected, as an Okinawa Times poll released on Feb. 22 showed that 43% of respondents supported the base and 34% were opposed. In addition, 30% put the local economy at the top of their policy concerns, while only 23% of respondents said the base was their top issue.
The result has further weakened Tamaki and his coalition ahead of this summer’s Upper House election. Concerns over possible military action by China are especially intense, adding impetus to Japan’s moves to shore up its defense of a vast area that lies far away from the country’s four main islands.
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