(Akahata: February 22, 2016 – p. 3)    Yokota Base in Tokyo, the location of the U.S. Forces Japan headquarters, is being transformed. “The coordination office” between the U.S. military and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) was established on the base to implement the new Guidelines for Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation and the war legislation. With the special operations aircraft CV-22 Osprey….Read more

(Ryukyu Shimpo: February 1, 2016 – p. 1 & 3)    Defense Minister Gen Nakatani stressed the necessity of relocating the U.S. Marines Futenma Air Station to Henoko, Nago, when he met with Okinawa Governor Takeshi Onaga for the first time at the prefectural office in May 2015.    To emphasize the importance of the presence of the U.S. Marines….Read more

(Sankei: January 28, 2016 – Top play)    Of the approximately 470 designated missing persons who might have been abducted by North Korea, 121, or about one-fourth, were living near Self-Defense Forces (SDF) or U.S. Forces Japan (USFJ) facilities, Sankei learned in an interview with Kazuhiro Araki, representative of the Investigation Commission on Missing Japanese Probably Related to North Korea….Read more

(Sankei: January 24, 2016 – p. 2)    The Ground Self-Defense Force is considering equipping personnel on duty with wearable cameras to record their actions, a source close to the matter revealed on Jan. 23. Once the security legislation goes into force, SDF personnel will be required to perform such missions as protecting others in immediate danger. It will become….Read more

(Sankei: January 21, 2016 – p. 13)    By Makoto Sakai    The Japanese Communist Party (JCP) held “a New Year’s party” on Jan. 4 at its headquarters in Yoyogi, Tokyo. “Under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s leadership, the Liberal Democratic Party has become a far-right political party,” said Chairman Kazuo Shii. “The Abe administration looks strong at first glance but….Read more

Asahi and Mainichi reported on the MSDF announcement on Thursday that an MSDF frigate will join a naval parade organized by the Indian Navy in early February and that on its way to India, the ship plans to take part in a joint drill with U.S. and Australian Navy warships. Asahi wrote that the planned maritime training is intended to….Read more

(Tokyo Shimbun: January 13, 2016 – p. 2)    The Budget Committee of the House of Representatives completed on Jan. 12 a two-day basic question-and-answer session in connection with a supplementary budget for fiscal 2015 with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and all cabinet ministers in attendance. When asked about a Self-Defense Forces (SDF) anti-piracy base to be established in Djibouti,….Read more

(Sankei: January 13, 2016 – p 1)    A Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) ship and a South Korean navy ship conducted joint training in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia at the end of December last year, multiple Japanese government sources informed Sankei on Jan. 12. The sources said that although the drill was conducted for the purpose of military….Read more

(Sankei: January 13, 2016 – p. 3)    Defense Minister Gen Nakatani told the press on Jan. 12 that he will order the Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) to take a seaborne patrolling action in the event that Chinese naval ships sail into territorial waters around the Senkaku Islands (Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture). “When police or the Japan Coast Guard (JCG)….Read more

Sankei front-paged a report saying that it has learned from several GOJ sources that an MSDF ship and a South Korean Navy ship conducted joint training in the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on December 23, 2015. The sources said that although the drill was conducted for the purpose of military exchanges, the ROK asked Japan not to publicize it….Read more