The Diplomat
On Wednesday, the Japanese Ministry of Defense announced that plans to go ahead with the deployment of a land-based ballistic missile defense installation in Akita prefecture would be canceled. Akita prefecture had been identified as a site for the deployment of one of two Aegis Ashore installations that Japan is procuring to better defend against ballistic missile threats from North Korea.
The decision to revisit the plan to deploy the system in Akita comes after months of sustained opposition from local politicians and constituents. The envisaged site was the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) training area in Akita’s Araya district. Initial reports that the Japanese government had started reconsidering Akita as a deployment area came in December 2019.
The decision to scrap the Aegis Ashore deployment in Akita could delay Tokyo’s plans to have both sites up and running by 2025. Opposition to the Akita site came from public health concerns and opposition by residents to hosting a facility that would likely become a high-priority target for North Korean missiles early in a potential conflict. The political opposition to the deployment also intensified after official briefing materials on the candidate site in Akita were found to contain errors.
