Yonaguni (Japan): This tiny island on Japan’s western frontier has no chain convenience stores. Nature lovers can dive with hammerhead sharks and watch miniature horses graze on a hill. But the wooded mountain ranges now carry radar sites. A southern cattle ranch has been replaced with the Japanese Ground Self-Defence Force’s Camp Yonaguni. Japan and its ally, the United States, hold joint military exercises here. Plans are underway to add a new missile unit and expand a small airport and port.
All of the buildup has cemented the island as a front line in a potential clash over Taiwan, the self-governing democratic island that China claims as its own. “As a child, I was so proud of this westernmost border island,” said Fumie Kano, an innkeeper on Yonaguni. “But recently, we are repeatedly told this place is dangerous, and I feel so sad.”
The militarisation has been especially felt as the island’s population shrinks. There are less than 1,500 local residents. Supporters say new service members arriving are needed for the island’s safety and struggling economy. Opponents like Kano say the military buildup is damaging the environment, making the island’s economy dependent on the military and could provoke an attack.
Yonaguni is only 68 miles east of Taiwan, around which China has bolstered military activity. Worried about a conflict, Japan has made a “southwestern shift” in its military posture and accelerated defence buildup and spending around the front line. Missile units for PAC-3 interceptors have been deployed on Yonaguni and nearby Ishigaki and Miyako islands.
Yonaguni residents find themselves at the centre of the geopolitical tension. A recent government plan to deploy more missiles, possibly long-range, has caused unease about the future of the island, even among those who initially supported hosting troops.
Disagreement about the plan has divided the small community. Support for hosting Japanese troops carried in a 2015 referendum; that meant the island’s fate would be largely decided by the central government’s security policy.
