Japan's Ground Self Defense Force on Sunday held a live-fire drill at its Higashifuji training range near Gotemba, Shizuoka Prefecture.
The annual exercise, held since 1961, comes as the government moves to expand the role of the Self-Defense Forces and boost the defense budget.
About 2,100 GSDF personnel participated, using 53 tanks, amphibious vehicles, 38 artillery pieces and V22 Osprey aircraft, Kyodo News reported. Some 68.4 tons of live ammunition worth about 840 million yen were used, the defense ministry said.
The exercise was based on the scenario of retaking one of Japan’s southern islands that had been invaded by enemy forces.
As China continues to expand its presence, Japan’s defense ministry is making a southwest shift, such as opening military bases on remote islands in Kyushu and Okinawa.
The event was not open to the public, as it used to be before the pandemic. The defense ministry said it will no longer be open to the public in order to allow the troops to focus on education and training.
© Japan Today
22 Comments
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JJE
That tank needs top mounted slat armor over the turret. Drones will make short work of that.
Mr Goodman
Kinda feel sorry for the general Japanese population as most don't own a gun or even know how to use one.
Japanese police officers fire warning shots in the air.
I hope the self defense forces have got their act together.
Training is good.
Prepare for the worst .
Peter14
All units and people in Infantry, armoured, artillery, missle and other front line fighting units should be conducting multiple live firing exercises each year, not just one annual demonstration with a fraction of the soldiers participating.
OssanAmerica
The JGSDF carries out numerous live fire exercises each year in different parts of Japan, as well as exercises together with US Forces and other allies. The annual one in Shizuoka is just one that is open to the public to view.
WoodyLee
Stop the Panic, No one is going invade Japan, Never happened, never will.
wallace
The US invaded.
OssanAmerica
Leaving aside the two Mongol (with Korean and Chinese) invasions in the 1200s, the U.S. invaded Okinawa and the USSR invaded the Southern Kuriles in WWII.
WA4TKG
Stop the Panic, No one is going invade Japan, Never happened, never will.
Tell it to Ukraine
TokyoLiving
No sorry for Japan being a modern, safe, civilized and FREE of guns society..
JeffLee
@wallace
Not really. They only got as far as Okinawa, which the Japanese government did not view as "mainland Japan" (本土) and used the Ryukyuan islands as a shield from the mainland. The US govt certainly did not want a mainland invasion (本土決戦) . That's why they used the atomic bombs.
A little bit of history knowledge helps a lot!
koiwaicoffee
Well said!
wallace
JeffLee
@wallace
The US invaded.
Mainland or not, Okinawa is part of Japan. The Russians also invaded Southern Kuriles.
OssanAmerica
Okinawa became a Prefecture of Japan in 1879. The Southern Kuriles in 1855. Designating them apart from 本土 is onl;y for geographical purposes.
The use of the A-Bombs was not strategicaly necessary since Japan was effectively defeated with absolutely no air defense left. A blockade could have brought them to submission. But it was necesssary to secure and occupy Japan asap before the Soviets invaded the main islands.
JeffLee
Um, no. The connotation of “Hondo” goes well beyond “geography” : Here are the main definitions from GooKokugoJiten: “The main territory of a country. Refers to vassal states, remote islands, etc.” “The country where one was born and raised. One's home country. "Return to" “Buddha's Land. Pure Land.” And Okinawa wasn't part of it.
So why were 800,000 soldiers deployed to Kyushu and digging in the summer of 1945? For a hymn gathering? The IJA’s strategy at that point didn’t rely on “air defenses,” but rather digging in and bogging down the enemy with small arms and drawing enough blood that they would quit.
OssanAmerica
Um no. Sorry but you are wrong. Nuanced meanings of Hondo are not relevant.
"国土交通省による日本の14地域区分の1つである沖縄は、沖縄県1県のみから成る。 なお、「九州地方」の一部または「九州・沖縄地方」と呼ぶ場合もある(「九州#近現代の「九州」」を参照)。 国土交通省は、「沖縄本島」を、「本土」5島の一つとしている"
Please Read the last sentence and learn something.
公益財団法人日本離島センターは、「北海道・本州・四国・九州・沖縄本島の5島をいわゆる「本土」とし、それら以外を「島」とすることが多い」としている。
Every Japanese source states that Okinawa is included as 本土.
Because the Army was adamant that soldiers should commit 玉砕. With absolutely no air defense and 67 cities already heavily bombed by Curtis LeMay, US aircraft had total unchallenged air superiority. The manufacting industrial base of Japan was decimated. Add to that the lack of oil, metal and other crucial materials, Japan could have been brought to surrender with a blockade. But with Soviet intentions clear in the European Theater, the U.S. could not risk waiting and allowing a Soviet entry into Japan.
JeffLee
Yeah, they are. There is a modern technical and official definition, and there are the older spiritual ones, which ran a lot deeper in the Japanese mindset at the time, especially in a time of war, which is what we're talking about. It's a common view among Okinawans and historians that Okinawa was sacrificed for the "hondo," (the homeland). This ain't just me talking out of hat.
So what. The IJA managed to get 800,000 armed soldiers deployed to Kyushu by mid 1945 with more on the way for what would have been possibly the bloodiest battle of all. With the same hunkering down tactics employed in the previous battles regardless of aerial or naval assets. But the atomic bombs quickly stopped that from happening.
OssanAmerica
Total nonsense. We are talking about whether Okinawa is or isn't considered part of the Japanese mainland (本土)
OssanAmerica
What that means in simple terms is that Japan could no longer produce the ammunition, weapons, etc to continue the war. They were already de facto defeated.
Japan had no options left, it was either surrender or fight to the death. On the other hand, the U,S. had options. Operation Downfall which included Coronet and Olympic and Coronet which involved a land invasion. Without doubt it would have succeeded with very high casualties, both military and civilian. The US Navy in contrast advocated a full blockade and continued use of air power. This too would have succeeded, but both would have required time to bring Japan to surrender.
The USSR had shown in the European theater that if they are allowed to invade and occupy first, they would absorb that country into their union of Soviet satellites. Therefore a fast surrender by, and occupation of Japan was of the highest priority. As unfortunate as it was, the A-bombs were the only option that could achieve that aim.
Desert Tortoise
In August of 1945 that was not yet apparent. The Allies including the Brits occupied all of the former Nazi controlled lands they had fought across at that point in WWII. Even Italy which officially changed sides in 1943 was under US and British military occupation. Nobody at that point knew how the post war world would shake out.
Desert Tortoise
On the day Japan surrendered they had 6.98 million soldiers in the IJA. Had they chose to fight the casualties for the Japanese would have been staggering and the Allies anticipated at least 1 million casualties among their forces.
Desert Tortoise
Not entirely. In just eight months of the year 1945 Japan manufactured the following:
1,758 military trucks
5,474 fighter aircraft
1,934 bombers
855 reconnaissance aircraft
2,523 training aircraft
17 destroyers
30 submarines
599,563 tons of merchant ships
Japan's military industries were degraded but not destroyed, and they had stockpiled massive amounts of ordnance in anticipation of an Allied invasion.
https://www.ww2-weapons.com/military-production-japan/
Desert Tortoise
The war in Ukraine is forcing every army to re-think its armored forces, their protection and employment.