{"id":37445,"date":"2026-06-09T02:54:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:54:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/37445\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T02:54:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T02:54:14","slug":"japan-begins-shipping-missile-launcher-to-easternmost-island","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/37445\/","title":{"rendered":"Japan begins shipping missile launcher to easternmost island"},"content":{"rendered":"

In this file photo provided by the Australian Department of Defense, a Japanese Type 12 surface-to-ship missile is launched by the Second Artillery Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force at Beecroft Weapons Range near Jervis Bay, Australia, on July 22, 2025, as part of Talisman Sabre, a biennial joint exercise involving 19 nations and 35,000 military personnel. (PHOTO\/AUSTRALIAN DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE VIA AP)<\/p>\n

TOKYO – Japan’s Ministry of Defense on Monday began transporting a missile launcher and other equipment to Minamitorishima, the country’s easternmost island in the Pacific, ahead of plans to build a missile firing range and conduct live-fire exercises there, local media reported.<\/p>\n

According to public broadcaster NHK, the ministry began shipping a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) Type 12 surface-to-ship missile launcher, along with medium-sized unmanned reconnaissance aircraft for target surveillance and positioning, by ferry from a port in Chiba prefecture, near Tokyo, to the island on Monday morning.<\/p>\n

Local media reported that this will mark Japan’s first deployment of GSDF surface-to-ship missiles to Minamitorishima, which belongs to Tokyo’s Ogasawara Islands.<\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Local officials protest Japan’s plan to deploy long-range missiles in Kumamoto<\/a><\/p>\n

The move has drawn wide concern and criticism, with observers warning it could heighten regional tensions.<\/p>\n

According to earlier local media reports, Japan plans to build a firing range on the island for weapons, including the Type 12 surface-to-ship missile, with live-fire training exercises slated to begin in 2027<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In this file photo provided by the Australian Department of Defense, a Japanese Type 12 surface-to-ship missile is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":37446,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[27718,27719,2788,8,3676,27717,33,14064,27425],"class_list":["post-37445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-japan","tag-easternmost-island","tag-ground-self-defense-force","tag-gsdf","tag-japan","tag-minamitorishima","tag-missile-deployment","tag-nihon","tag-ogasawara-islands","tag-type-12"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37445","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=37445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/37445\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37446"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=37445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/japan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=37445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}