Construction of SDF Base Begins on Uninhabited Mageshima Island
14:24 JST, January 13, 2023
The Defense Ministry has begun construction of a Self-Defense Force base on Mageshima Island in Nishinoomote, Kagoshima Prefecture.
The construction work, which began Thursday, will take about four years and includes the installation of two runways, a control tower and an explosives depot.
Mageshima is an uninhabited island of about 8 square kilometers located about 12 kilometers west of Tanegashima island.
A document issued in 2011 following defense talks between Japanese and U.S. foreign and defense chiefs picked Mageshima as a candidate site for the relocation of field carrier landing practice (FCLP) of U.S. carrier-borne aircraft, which is currently conducted on Iwoto, a remote island administratively part of Tokyo.
The new base is expected to be used for defense of the Nansei Islands and SDF training, including exercises involving the SDF’s Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade and Osprey transport aircraft.
A Japan-U.S. 2-plus-2 joint statement released Wednesday noted, “The ministers welcomed the progress and future prospects for the development of the SDF facility on Mageshima.”
"Politics" POPULAR ARTICLE
-
Prime Minister Fumio Kishida Promotes Revised NISA Investment Program to Young People; Kishida Focusing on Moving Money From Savings to Investment in a Safe Environment
-
Chinese Ships Stay in Japanese Waters near Senkaku Islands for 2 Days
-
Japan, U.S. to Join Forces on AI, Semiconductors; Seek to Counter China’s ‘Military-Civil Fusion’
-
Japan, U.S. to Work Together for Expanding Marine Product Supply Chains; Countering China’s Economic Coercion
-
84% of People Nationwide Say They Feel Japan’s National Security Is Under Threat
JN ACCESS RANKING
- M6.0 Earthquake Hits Japan’s Tohoku Region; Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi Prefectures Observe 4 on Japanese Scale With No Risk of Tsunami
- Cherry Blossoms Draw Crowd to Tokyo’s Ueno Park; Viewing Season Kicks Off to Slow Start
- China Mutes Memorialization of Reformer Hu Yaobang; Memories Could Spark Critique of Xi Administration
- Shinkansen Services Suspended After Man ‘Searches for Phone’ on Tracks; Disruption Affects About 14,000 Passengers
- Whaling Mother Ship Built in Japan for 1st Time in 73 Years