Overview
- On November 22, Defense Minister Shinjiro Koizumi visited Miyakojima in the Sakishima island chain, marking his first trip to Okinawa since taking office.
- He conferred with the city’s mayor and called local understanding essential to Japan’s defense plans in the Nansei islands.
- Koizumi toured an Air Self-Defense Force base on the island and inspected a radar monitoring facility.
- He stated that Japan’s security environment has grown more severe and emphasized the need to reinforce capabilities in the southwest.
- According to his schedule, he plans to inspect the Ground Self-Defense Force garrison on Ishigaki on November 23 and meet local leaders on Yonaguni later that day.