The “Air of War” that infiltrates into people’s inner life spheres
The “Air of War” that infiltrates into people’s inner life spheres
Interview with Ms. SHIMIZU Hayako (Miyakojima Residents’ Association for No Missile Bases) published in SHISO-UNDO July 2025, No. 176
Ms. Shimizu Hayako, who is leading the anti-base struggle in Miyako Island, which is rapidly being transformed into a missile base, recently came to Tokyo. We met with her and asked her about the situation there. (Editorial Office of Shiso-Undo)
Deceiving residents to expand military base
It will soon be six years since the construction of the Ground Self-Defense Force station on Miyako Island, and this base in the Chiyoda district is still being expanded and strengthened day by day. In Miyako, an electronic warfare unit is targeted to be established by the end of this fiscal year (March 2026). Construction of its facility is expected to begin by the end of March. The garrison will consist of 20 personnel from the Ainoura Garrison (Sasebo City) and 30 personnel from the Kengun Garrison (Kumamoto City), bringing the total number of garrison personnel to 50.
The garrison is said to have four sets of surface-to-air missiles (Type 03 medium-range surface-to-air guided missile) and three sets of surface-to-ship missiles (Type 12 surface-to-ship guided missile), but it seems that more have been deployed. In addition, a new training facility for the Ranger Corps is being built at the garrison, and additional quarters for the corps members are being constructed.
In addition, a group of radars, which we call “mystery radars,” is being built in addition to the radar base that was previously located in the neighboring field area. We believe that this radar is related to the creation of an electronic warfare unit.
A missile ammunition depot is being built in the Bora area. Two of the buildings have already been completed, and a third is currently under construction. There is a residents’ village nearby, and the nearest house is only 200 meters from the ammunition depot. It is clear that an accident would cause serious damage.
In the first place, the expansion of these bases and the construction of new military facilities are a serious broken promise. In response to the opinion letter submitted by the Miyakojima City Council on September 26, 2016, requesting the presentation of a plan for the construction of the GSDF Miyakojima Garrison, the Ministry of Defense and Okinawa Defense Bureau have announced that the “Chiyoda Country Club,” where the garrison will be established (the garrison will be built on the site of the Chiyoda Country Club), will be used for the construction of a new military facility. The Okinawa Defense Bureau of the Ministry of Defense responded that “neither ammunition depots nor helipads will be built” and “no land will be acquired and expanded” for the “Chiyoda Country Club” where the garrison is to be established.
Yet, they are building an ammunition depot in Chiyoda as well, saying that in an emergency, “the ground will be used as a helipad,” and they are acquiring land adjacent to the Chiyoda base to begin construction of an electronic warfare unit facility.
In addition, during negotiations with Miyako and Ishigaki residents held at the Okinawa Defense Bureau on August 26, 2019, then Director TANAKA Toshinori clearly stated that “training will be conducted inside the base” (a video record also remains). Despite this, it is now clear that on November 19 and 20, 2024, the 7th Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment of the SDF Miyakojima Garrison conducted drills at 12 locations, including a park on the island outside the base.
These are unforgivable acts by the SDF, which has been misleading the residents of Miyako Island, in contradiction to its previous statements.
Under the mask of a civilian
By the way, regarding the “mysterious radar” mentioned earlier, a sign under construction indicates that the order was placed by MCC Corporation, and the recipient of the order is an affiliate of NEC Corporation. The sponsor is the Ministry of Defense, but on the surface it appears to be a deal between private companies. As you know, NEC is now one of Japan’s leading military contractors in the electronics sector, and MCC is a company involved in the production of X-band radar and many other projects related to the Ministry of Defense, so it can be said to be a company that serves the Ministry.
Cable construction connecting the Chiyoda garrison (missile base) and the radar base in Nobaru is currently underway, and this too is being carried out under the guise of a civilian project. The construction of military bases by the national government under the guise of civilian projects has become a recent characteristic of this type of project.
On a related note, the Act on Specified Airports and Harbors was enacted to allow the U.S. military and Self-Defense Forces to use civilian airports and harbor facilities for military purposes even in times of peace. The air routes between Ishigaki Island and Hateruma Island and between Ishigaki Island and Tarama Island had been served by Ryukyu Air Commuter, a JAL affiliate, until now. This is an opportunity for the runway that used to be there to be extended and for civilian aircraft to fly more, but I think this is also linked to the conversion of the airport to a specific airport for military use.
Daiichi Airlines is an Osaka-based company based at the SDF Yao Garrison and is an official airline of the Ministry of Defense.
The mayor of Ishigaki is a well-known ideologue who is pushing for the opening of a ferry route between Ishigaki Island and Keelung, Taiwan. This is the situation that is developing in the midst of these relationships.
Fostering a war mode
In addition to military expansion in terms of hardware and institutions, soft domination is rapidly gaining strength, entering into the spheres of daily life, cultural traditions, and the inner lives of the local people to create an “atmosphere of war.”
In 2023, we received information that a large number of body containment bags were being stored in the community center, and our request for disclosure revealed that there were a total of 250 bags. The city’s response stated that the bags were for those who had died of infectious diseases, but it was clear that these bags were for those who had died in the war, as COVID-19 had just gone down. It was not only for Japanese and U.S. soldiers, but also for us residents. On the neighboring island of Ishigaki, they also conducted drills to collect the bodies of local residents.
The SDFs are also preparing for an emergency by manufacturing and stockpiling their own blood products to share with the U.S. military. It is outrageous.
A plan was announced to evacuate residents of Miyako Island by building a shelter in the basement of a gymnasium to accommodate 4,500 people for three days. However, how will they protect the safety of Miyako Island’s 55,000 residents, 60,000 of whom are tourists, and only for the three-day period envisioned? This is a completely unrealistic plan.
It has also been revealed that, in the event of an emergency, 120,000 residents of the “Sakishima Islands” will be evacuated to Kyushu and Yamaguchi prefectures, and that hundreds of aircraft and ships will be sent back and forth to complete the evacuation in six days. This is also a terribly unrealistic plan.
The very fact that we are even considering such a response based on the assumption that fighting will start or that there will be casualties leads people to accept war and participate in it. Instead, what we should be doing now is to focus all our efforts on preventing war and protecting peace.
Most recently, on February 1, the Miyako Archipelago Disaster Prevention Drill, organized by the Miyako Garrison of the Japan Ground SDF, was held at Hisamatsu Fishing Port. The drill is supposed to “simulate a large-scale earthquake.” But we held a protest action with the panels “Against wartime drills in the name of ‘disaster prevention’!” and “We don’t need combat vehicles in disaster drills!”
During the “drill,” 300 curry with rice were served, and the SDF were skillful in their attempts to win over the residents. Throughout the year on Miyako Island, the SDF participates in various “civil operations” to win over the local residents. These include various sporting events (marathons, volleyball, beach volleyball, triathlons, etc.), local festivals (participation in Harley racing at the Kaijin Festival, etc.), clean-up activities, music concerts, and SDF base visit experiences, among many others.
Self-defense forces on a dangerous path
On Miyako Island, there are sacred prayer sites of indigenous beliefs called Utaki in each village, and they have been cherished as common property of the community to carry on traditional culture. One of these Utaki, Kanmi Utaki, has been sold to the Ministry of Defense, and is now located on the grounds of the Miyakojima Garrison, making it inaccessible to the public. Furthermore, last year, a memorial “Kurotaka no Yushi” (Black Hawk Warriors) was installed in front of the Utaki to commemorate those who lost their lives in a helicopter crash of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force in April 2023. It glorifies the victims with the same idea as that of the heroes.
The Utaki is a sacred place for rituals, and it is said that people who have attended funerals are not allowed to enter the Utaki. From the perspective of Okinawa’s spiritual culture, having a memorial monument related to “death” nearby is unbelievable and unacceptable. We have protested against this, but the response has been a complete refusal to listen to us.
Other issues include: on January 10, 2024, the commander of the Miyakojima Garrison of the Ground SDF and others publicly visited the Miyako Shrine in their uniform; the death poem by Lieutenant General USHIJIMA Mitsuru, which was uploaded in the website of the 15th Brigade in Naha City, was once deleted due to public outcry, but the phrase has been revised and restored; and the 32nd Regular Regiment of the GSDF, which has posted the following on its official website the phrases “Greater East Asia War” and “Rest in Peace for the Spirits of Heroes” in its official X. It must be noted that the entire Self-Defense Forces are moving in a very dangerous direction ideologically.
On February 23, the 6th anniversary of the Miyakojima Garrison will be commemorated. There will be a parade and display of military vehicles, with the intention of creating a new prewar atmosphere in civil society. In addition, as I mentioned earlier, construction of an electronic warfare unit will begin at the end of March. We will be protesting both of these developments for the time being.
Miyako, Ishigaki, and Yonaguni, which are said to be the front lines of war in the event of a “Taiwan contingency,” have become uninhabitable even in peacetime due to the migration of SDF personnel working at the base, difficulties in acquiring housing due to skyrocketing rent prices, and various other negative effects brought about by tourism development. In particular, young people who have left the islands are unable to return.
In addition, the policy of “abandonment” or “eviction of the islanders” as manifested in the evacuation plan of all residents of the “Sakishima Islands” to Kyushu and other places, is progressing. If this continues, the islands will soon be in ruins even without war.
This is the reality of the islands that are being turned into missile bases. Please visit the islands if your conditions are suitable and join us in thinking and acting together.
We are planning to call on our friends from all over Japan to join us in an action against the Electronic Warfare Unit at the end of March. Please also take a look at the blog of the “Network Against Military Bases on the Ryukyu Arc,” which we have created. You can get a good idea of the situation unfolding on the islands.