Yonaguni plot eyed for GSDF monitoring post

The Defense Ministry is considering obtaining municipal land on Yonaguni Island in Okinawa Prefecture to garrison a coastal monitoring unit in an apparent response to China's growing naval activity, senior ministry officials said Saturday.

The ministry will include funds for buying the land, which is being used for farming, in its budget request for the next fiscal year. The town is in the southwestern part of the island.

The residents of Yonaguni, however, are divided over the plan, which could spark protests if the ministry goes ahead before gaining a consensus.

The plan is in line with the ministry's five-year medium-term defense buildup program from fiscal 2011, under which Japan will beef up the presence of Ground Self-Defense Force troops on the remote southwestern Nansei Islands, including Yonaguni Island, as a coastal monitoring unit.

The ministry plans to build the monitoring station on 15 to 20 hectares of the 125-hectare farm, where around 60 cows and horses are grazing in its fields, the officials said.

It would build the unit building and quarters as well as a heliport within four years so that the unit can monitor the movements of foreign vessels in the East China Sea using optical equipment and radar.

Yonaguni Mayor Shukichi Hokama has shown readiness to accept the unit amid expectations it would have a positive impact on the local economy, but some residents are opposed, arguing there is no need for more defense force bases in Okinawa.

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