Why is Japan Fortifying its Small Islands, and why is it such a big deal? | Foreign Correspondent

After decades of peace, Japan faces the possibility of war with a resurgent Russia, North Korea and, most importantly, a more powerful China on its doorstep. Japan is making a show of force. We have to start preparing. We don't really know how much time we have left. Japan is embarking on its biggest military expansion since World War II and

fortifying

a new front line on its

islands

near Taiwan, but some locals fear these new military bases will turn their

islands

into a war zone, whoever you think or cook the war and the ones I really hate more than 70 years since Japan gave up the war the country is preparing for conflict again the objective is to prevent China from going to war by showing that Japan and its allies will fight, but Is this deterrence going to work or will it? helps create the conflict that Japan is trying to avoid Foreign rush at this military base in southern Japan ABC Hello, hello, the base is home to a specialized team of soldiers called the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade or ARDB.

The Brigade is like the US Marines trying to launch assaults from the sea this morning the stamina of these new recruits is being tested in the nearby pool. Captain Sugar Ey, 33, is training with his unit. He joined the self-defense forces when he was only 15 years old. These exercises simulate jumping from a helicopter. In a real war, Captain Ey and his team could be sent as a covert reconnaissance unit off a large-scale beach. Landing, some jumping for the first time, nervous, oh my kitty, this brigade was created five years ago after hostile clashes with Beijing. on disputed islands in the East China Sea in your shingo National are the units Commander Nice to meet you Nice to meet you James just taking a look at your previous assault vehicles at the University of Massachusetts, so why did you choose this job specific the next day?

A 15-minute drive away is the US Naval Base at Sasebo, a crucial supply point for US ships in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. It is one of 13 US military bases on Japanese soil. Every morning, naval officers here salute the US-Japan Alliance, ready to look forward to the end of World War II. American military bases like this have been the backbone of Japan's defense. They give the United States a vital launching point for military operations that help secure its position as Asia's dominant superpower, but China is challenging American dominance in global terms. The military is more powerful than China's, but China's Defense Forces have grown rapidly in the region and are sparking intense debate in Japan.

We are suddenly realizing the potential threat that China is posing and to

deal

with that we are very ill prepared and what is happening. The most worrying thing is that the Americans are very ill prepared in this region if the United States gets involved in Taiwan and then if Japan also provides even real support in the area, then China would start retaliating probably against the American base based in Japan, at least if there is a military conflict in the Taiwan Strait. I consider it very unlikely that we can stay out of it, because some of our islands are very close to Taiwan, we are on the front line, I really think everyone feels that I am heading to the southwest to see Japan's new front line up close. 2,000 kilometers from Tokyo but less than 300 kilometers from Taiwan is the island of Ishigaki, it is part of the Okinawa region.

Ishigaki is a popular tourist destination and home to fishermen and fruit growers like Ryotaro Kinjo Um Every morning, Ryutaro takes a short trip to his family's fruit farm. He almost had a very different life nine years ago. He was working at Corporate America. Go there. He fears that this idyllic lifestyle is under threat. To show me why it takes me less to go for a walk. Over a kilometer away jutting out from the surrounding hills is a huge construction site, so what are we looking at? That would be a military base. How did you first find out about this space?

Oh, when I see a newspaper, it's a surprise, yes, a lot. surprise, when the base is finished, it will be home to around 600 soldiers, stockpiles of ammunition and missiles, it has created a lot of tension and the division in this community has this divided space, the community. I think to understand the strategic importance of Ichigaki to Japan, you have to. See how it fits into the bigger picture, it is part of a long chain of islands in the southwest where Japan has been building military bases in recent years and Magashima. These dotted islands are like fences that stand firm against the Chinese and that is exactly why.

They don't like it very much and they definitely won't like us moving average assets there, that's the point: The Okinawa Islands have been caught between major military powers before this story has left an indelible mark on Okinawa that we trapped and destroyed for a hundreds of thousands of their best test in the last days of the war in the imperial Japanese army was to put up a final resistance on the islands of Okinawa we will destroy the island of Japan found that the navy found four powers to wage war ishigaki the army Imperial thought that the American invasion was imminent for fear that the locals might give information to the Americans.

The Japanese army forced them to move into the jungle. Some more loving things on the shoulders. Women mainly on the head and back. They carried babies on their backs and so on. Setsuko Yamazato was. only seven when they brought her family here, how does it feel to be standing here? Oh, I know. Actually, I don't even want to come here and think about it. It brings back all those strange memories to go further than her friend. historian norikazu ishido takes me deep into the jungle, um,

foreign

er, my mother, she and I got another area the same night, we just hugged each other, lying down, shivering, shaking like something that couldn't stop the fever, and so on, he continued later.

It continued like this until May 5, the 17th, until she died. Malaria killed about two and a half thousand inhabitants of Ishigaki. I feel that those who died of malaria and things were all sacrificed by the Japanese army. Setsico's little sister also died. hunger I think I didn't know what that meant, it took me a while before I really felt alone, losing my sister, my mother, etc., so at that moment I didn't feel anything, I want this to not happen again, never, ever again, is a mission statement zetsuko has lived and the veteran activist runs the so-called Grandmothers Society to protect lives and livelihoods if he has a missile base that would be the first target enemies would aim at every Sunday setsiko and his friends unite against the new military base they sing in Okinawan dialect that you made your name you have been fighting for many years are you getting tired of fighting?

No, you never look at me, it has become one of my hobbies. Favorite artist who never tires of fighting, but the grandmothers face powerful forces, eh, okay, Amazon Jones is officially independent, but received the endorsement of the country's ruling party, the LDP, he is an ardent supporter of the base in last year's election, the mayor campaigned on a pro-base platform and won a convincing victory against his anti-base rival this is his fourth term as mayor yes,

foreign

er for decades has been visiting a set of disputed islands Known as senkaku in Japan and diu in China, why do you do this?

He has been documenting how an increasingly powerful China is asserting itself. himself, armed with a camera, Hitoshi films scenes like these or audiences in Japan, thank you, foreigner, two photos of Crossing, thank you, okay, until, to avoid an escalation of the conflict with China, Japan has banned people from disembarking on the islands before each voyage to search for Senkaku Coast Guard officials. Hitoshi's ship from top to bottom United States is Satoshi returns to the disputed islands. The coast guard has followed him throughout the trip. Foreign Foreign Automotive I was invited to see Japan's amphibious assault team in action.

He is present on the trip and so is an army. Observers from friendly countries, including Australia, the United States and Japan, are obviously one of our strongest allies, so the opportunity to be here and see how they operate really benefits us. The soldiers are preparing to launch an assault on the beach. These amphibious activities are becoming inherently more complex and sophisticated. These exercises are part of massive 10-day exercises between Japanese and American forces. 36,000 soldiers take part in exercise Keen Sword, one of the largest ever conducted on Japanese soil, as the power of the amphibious assault vehicle towards the beach deploys plumes of smoke as cover.

In a few moments the vehicles are in the sand and the soldiers run out. Hundreds of locals have gathered to watch the show because your response is mosquitoes. Hey, good night. Japan is now betting that more weapons will make it safer. He has promised to increase defense spending by almost 60 percent over the next five years. At the top of the shopping list are hundreds of new missiles that can strike further than ever before, even as far as mainland China. If there are certain military moves that really affect our national interest, then we have the ability to try. to stop that operation by attacking any assets that are necessary to be attacked, like the port like the airfield, we are not actually thinking about fighting

such

a war, we are thinking about deterrence, which means that telling the Chinese that we have these capabilities if you do things we don't want you to do, this is the path you may have to pay for.

Polls show that most people support expanding the military, but there is strong opposition to raising taxes to pay for it. It leaves public finances in a horrible situation once you start. When you talk about money, you know it gets more real and then people start thinking, "Well, do we really need that much or is that really going to help?" are these bases that Japan has built in the far southwest. It's not justified, they are so close to China. and if Japan can attack China, China can attack Japan and they can attack Japan so many more times that they have thousands of missiles.

Japan isn't going to have thousands of unbroken missiles, so I think it's a safe bet that you think it will get mad at China. I think it will be Onishigaki. I'll be joining Ryutaro and his family for their weekly lunch. Okay, now it's over, as the base is nearing completion. His anxiety is growing. they have a say in whether or not they want a base that the council and the mayor oppose um but ritaro feels that the community should be listened to he is a foreigner foreigner joined up with some old friends from high school to play music this popular song by Okinawa is called a ghetto is about remembering the horror that Okinawans endured in World War II and praying that it never happens again.

Abroad, this next war, if it happens, everyone will be the loser, I think.