Why did Japan create Naval Infantry? - Politics Forum.org | PoFo

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Why did Japan create Naval Infantry?
Japan's self-defense forces have been replenished by the Marines of rapid reaction for the first time since the end of the Second World War. Japan formally introduced a new military unit in Nagasaki Prefecture on April 7, 2018.
According to the Japanese military leadership, the new unit will be equipped with the latest technology. The Japanese Naval Infantry will be armed with US V-22 Osprey landing aircraft, Hyuga and Ise helicopter carriers capable of carrying F-35B vertical take-off aircraft and British amphibious landing vehicles AAV-7.
A brigade of 2 thousand Japanese marines will be deployed on the island of Kyushu. The unit is relocating to Okinawa by 2020.
Serious assistance in the training of Japanese marines was provided by the US Marine Corps, whose servicemen took part in the first demonstrations of Japanese Marines on April 7, 2018. In January 2018, the first joint exercises of US and Japanese marines were held.
The main tasks of the Japanese Naval Infantry will be to seize and retain control over remote islands, which may be encroached by potential adversaries. According to international experts, Tokyo considers China, Russia and South Korea as such adversaries. The Japanese press frankly writes that the Naval Landing Forces were introduced to counteract the occupation of the islands in the East China Sea, which, according to Tokyo, are threatened by China.
However, the appearance of Naval Infantry in Japan is a cause for concern not only for China, but for other countries in the region. Tokyo disputes the ownership of Russia's three southern islands of the Kuril Ridge - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir, and a group of small islands Habomai. South Korea's sovereignty over the islands of Liancourt in the southern part of the Sea of Japan is also questioned. Theoretically, if it comes to the fact that Japan will try to discourage the disputed islands, these landing mobile forces will be very useful.
It should be recalled that the Special Naval Landing Forces in Japan existed until 1945. Moreover, the Japanese Naval Infantry played a leading role in the occupation of significant territories in East Asia and the Pacific during the Second World War. After the adoption of the new pacifist Constitution of 1947, which refuses to conduct war as a sovereign right of the nation, the Naval Infantry units in the Army and Navy were disbanded. Although the Self-Defense Forces were established in Japan in 1954, the marines were long considered to be an aggressive military force and its units were not recreated until recently.
Today, the creation of Japanese Naval Infantry units means that the Japanese Self-Defense Forces finally change their status. Shinzo Abe government demonstrated readiness for this in 2015, when legally allowed the Japanese military to take part in operations abroad. In addition, the Marine Corps is a strike unit, it is not intended for actions to protect its territory, which was previously the main task of the Self-Defense Forces. Consequently, the Japanese government, which is leading a militaristic policy, uses the occasion of defending its territorial integrity to justify militarism. And the Japanese army is becoming one of the foremost armies in the world.
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However, the appearance of Naval Infantry in Japan is a cause for concern not only for China, but for other countries in the region. Tokyo disputes the ownership of Russia's three southern islands of the Kuril Ridge - Iturup, Shikotan, Kunashir, and a group of small islands Habomai.


The Marines are only meant to defend the Senkaku Islands from a possible Chinese invasion, which have been repeatedly threatened by Chinese vessels. Japan cannot defend small islands which are technically controlled by Russia. The Japanese are too fearful of Russia to challenge it militarily but they think they can handle the Chinese even with an ad hoc MEU that was hastily put together.

SASEBO/TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) - 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.

“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 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.

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.

“They’ve already demonstrated the ability to put together an ad hoc MEU. But to have a solid, standing MEU capability requires concerted effort,” Grant Newsham, a research fellow at the Japan Forum for Strategic Studies.

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