Japan Sets up New Military Camp on Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island

Japan’s Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) has launched a new camp on Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island to strengthen the defense capabilities of the country’s southwestern islands amid China’s growing assertiveness in waters around disputed islands in the East China Sea.

Named Camp Ishigaki, the new garrison was formally opened on March 16. It is the fourth JGSDF camp in Japan’s remote southwestern islands in the Nansei island chain, which spans about 1,200 kilometers, to be established off the main island of Okinawa. Since 2016, three other garrisons have been built on the islands of Yonaguni and Miyako in Okinawa prefecture as well as on Amami-Oshima Island in Kagoshima prefecture.

The latest base on Ishigaki was the last in a planned series of new JGSDF garrisons. With a more assertive China in mind, the Ministry of Defense in Tokyo stressed that “the power vacuum situation has been resolved.”

According to the ministry, Camp Ishigaki, located in the center of the island, covers an area of about 47 hectares. The garrison has about 570 personnel, including those in surface-to-air and anti-ship missile batteries. Two hundred vehicles are stationed at the camp. Its missile unit possesses truck-mounted Type 12 surface-to-ship missiles (SSMs) and Type 03 medium-range surface-to-air guided missiles.

The Defense Ministry’s Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency (ATLA) is currently developing an extended-range version of the domestically developed Type 12 SSM as a stand-off missile. This missile will be operated by the army, the navy, and the air force in different variants. The ministry aims to deploy the ground-launched type in 2026, the ship-launched type in 2028, and the aircraft-launched type in 2030.

Camp Ishigaki is highly likely to host this upgraded version of longer-ranged SSMs – not only to deter China’s military ships and aircraft passing through nearby waters and airspace, but also to put in place counterstrike capabilities against missile bases in China as deterrence.

Geopolitically speaking, Ishigaki Island is strategically very important. It is located about 170 km south of the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands in the East China Sea, which are controlled by Tokyo but also claimed by Beijing. It is also located about only 250 km east of Taiwan. Should any contingency happen involving either the Senkaku Islands or Taiwan, Ishigaki Island is highly likely to become a major combat theater due to the tyranny of close distance.

For this reason, more than a few civilians have expressed the fear that Okinawa prefecture will once again turn into a battlefield if there is a Taiwan or Senkaku contingency. About 30 residents of Ishigaki reportedly protested against the establishment of the new camp on March 16, saying that the deployment of the JGSDF would increase the risk that their island would be targeted in an emergency. Meanwhile, riot police officers of the Okinawa Prefectural Police guarded the camp.

On the same day, senior JGSDF officials visited Ishigaki City Hall and reported the camp’s opening to Mayor Nakayama Yoshitaka. Nakayama asked them to maintain harmony with local residents and make sure the camp is properly operated.

As part of efforts to provide residents more transparency in the camp’s operations, on March 10 the Ministry of Defense announced that it will store Type 12 SSMs and other ammunitions at Camp Ishigaki. It is unusual for the ministry to disclose the types of ammunition it stores in a specific place.

Chinese patrol ships have repeatedly entered Japanese waters near the disputed Senkaku/Diaoyu Islands. For example, in 2022, Chinese government vessels were seen in the contiguous zone around the Senkaku Islands on 336 days, setting a new record.