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SASEBO, TOKYO: Japan yesterday activated its first marine unit since World War Two trained to counter invaders occupying Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea that Tokyo fears are vulnerable to attack by China. The brigade is the latest component of a growing marine force that includes helicopter carriers, amphibious ships, Osprey tilt-rotor troop carriers and amphibious assault vehicles, meant to deter SASEBO/TOKYO: Japan on Saturday activated its first marine unit since World War Two trained to counter invaders occupying Japanese islands along the edge of the East China Sea that Tokyo fears are vulnerable to attack by China.In a ceremony held at a military base near Sasebo on the southwest island of Kyushu, about 1,500 members of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade (ARDB) wearing camouflage lined up outside amid cold, windy weather. "Given the increasingly difficult defense and security situation surrounding Japan, defense of our islands has become a critical mandate," Tomohiro Yamamoto, vice defense minister, said in a speech.The troops conducted a 20-minute mock public exercise recapturing a remote island from invaders.The formation of the Japanese marine brigade is controversial because amphibious units can project military force and could, critics warn, be used to threaten Japan's neighbours. They took part in a mock exercise to take back an island from invaders, with some US Marines based in Japan also involved. The formation of the new brigade and rhetoric around it may be seen as controversial since, under the constitution enacted after World War II, Tokyo pledges to never maintain "land, sea, and air forces, as well as another war potential" in order to "forever renounce war as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of force as means of settling international disputes." The Vice Defense Minister, Tomohiro Yamamoto, uttered, “Given the increasingly difficult defense and security situation surrounding Japan, defense of our islands has become a critical mandate.”

Reuters reports, “The brigade is the latest component of a growing marine force that includes helicopter carriers, amphibious ships, Osprey tilt-rotor troop carriers and amphibious assault vehicles, meant to deter China as it pushes for easier access to the Western Pacific.”

Regionally, many nations with extremely cordial relations with Japan will welcome this sleeping giant finally waking up. China is also the biggest fish in the much-contested South China Sea, an area which many countries have conflicting territorial claims to both islands and the sea. In 2018, Beijing which claims a group of uninhabited islets in the East China Sea controlled by Tokyo, will spend 1.11 trillion yuan ($176.56 billion) on its armed forces, more than three times as much as Japan.The activation of the 2,100 strong ARDB takes Japan a step closer to creating a force similar to a U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) able to plan and execute operations at sea far from its home base. China, which dominates the 



The activation of the 2,100 strong ARDB takes Japan a step closer to creating a force similar to a U.S. Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU) able to plan and execute operations at sea far from its home base. "If Japan put its mind to it, within a year or year and a half it could have a reasonable capability," said Colonel Grant Newsham, a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies. “If Japan put its mind to it, within a year or year and a half it could have a reasonable capability.”

Newsham, who helped train Japan’s first amphibious troops as a U.S. Marine Corps colonel liaison officer assigned to the Ground Self Defense Force (GSDF), said Japan still needs a joint navy-army amphibious headquarters to coordinate operations as well as more amphibious ships to carry troops and equipment. The marines are the latest addition to Japan’s defense, which has been increasing its military hardware in an effort to deter China. “Let’s stipulate the Self-Defense Forces and put an end to a controversy about violation of the constitution.”

The country’s increased militarism has sparked protests from residents already unhappy with the presence of US military bases in the country. Japanese Self-Defense Forces, Japan’s unified military command, activated its first marine component since World War II and conducted a training exercise on Friday.
Japan activates a 2,100-member Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, its first marine force since World War II.