(Provisional translation by an external company for reference purpose only)
I have two announcements at the outset today. The first is about the return of Negishi Dependent Housing Area. Yesterday, Japan and the U.S. agreed that all of the approximately 43-hectare area of the U.S. Forces Japan’s (USFJ) Negishi Dependent Housing Area in Yokohama City, Kanagawa Prefecture will be returned by June 30, 2026. This return will result in the return of approximately 418 hectares, which make up most of the approximately 419-hectare area to be returned under the agreement reached by the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee in October 2004 on the realignment of facilities and areas of the USFJ in Kanagawa Prefecture. This return has important significance from the perspectives of steadily advancing the realignment of USFJ facilities and areas while maintaining the necessary deterrence capabilities under the Japan-U.S. Alliance, and through the return of large land, enabling urban development that contributes to the future of the communities in Negishi Dependent Housing Area. The Ministry of Defense (MOD) will work together with relevant local governments, including Yokohama City, while listening carefully to local citizens to ensure the effective and appropriate use of the returned land.
The second announcement is about stand-off missile deliveries. The MOD and the Self-Defense Forces (SDF) decided to introduce stand-off missiles in 2017, and identified strengthening stand-off defense capabilities as one of the seven key capabilities in the National Defense Strategy formulated in 2022. Deliveries to the SDF have begun of the U.S.-made Tomahawk and Norwegian-made Joint Strike Missile (JSM) stand-off missiles. Stand-off missiles will allow Japan to respond to an invading opponent from outside their threat zone, and are important equipment for preventing invasions while protecting the lives of SDF personnel. In addition, by making the opponent recognize that an invasion of Japan by warships and/or landing forces will be prevented, the stand-off missiles will contribute to deterring armed attacks against Japan themselves. Such capability strengthening is necessary for protecting the lives and peaceful livelihoods of Japanese people amid the most severe and complex security environment since the end of World War II. It remains unchanged that Japan’s defense capabilities, including stand-off missiles, are the minimum defense capabilities necessary for self-defense, and that they will be used for the first time when Japan is subject to an opponent’s armed attack. Our defense capabilities will never pose a threat to other countries. We will continue making efforts to further reinforce and transform defense capabilities for protecting the lives and peaceful livelihoods of Japanese people. That concludes my two opening remarks.