Residents’ fears are growing on Ishigakijima island in southwestern Japan that the government’s widening defense plan to protect the nation will put them in the line of fire.

It has been one year since the Ground Self-Defense Force opened a new outpost on the island in Okinawa Prefecture to fend off a possible military advance by China.

Local opposition to the camp had eased somewhat. But residents now feel that developments in Japan-U.S. security arrangements are pointing to the island as a site for deployment of long-range missiles that can reach overseas targets.

The GSDF camp is part of Japan’s strategy of positioning troops to the Nansei chain of outlying islands in Kagoshima and Okinawa prefectures.

The Senkaku Islands, a group of uninhabited isles in the East China Sea claimed by both Japan and China, have been a source of tension between the two countries.

The SDF plans to operate the Type-12 Surface-to-Ship Missile with a range of 200 kilometers in various locations in the Nansei Islands in hopes of protecting the Senkakus and other isles from possible Chinese incursions.

The first missile site, on Amami-Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, was completed in 2019, followed by one on Miyakojima island in Okinawa Prefecture in late 2019.

The deployment to Ishigakijima, which the Defense Ministry calls “the last piece” of the southwest shift, was finished on March 16, 2023.

Ishigakijima, with a population of nearly 50,000, is now home to about 570 GSDF troops and about 260 of their family members.

But the island will likely host more GSDF installations in the years ahead.

The Defense Ministry secured 12.8 billion yen ($85.3 million) in the budget for the new fiscal year, which started in April, to acquire a plot west of the GSDF camp on the island for construction of an outdoor training area.

The ministry also plans to use the allocated budget to build an indoor shooting range and accommodations for the troops.

The government has decided to extend the range of the Type-12 Surface-to-Ship Missile to about 1,000 kilometers, making it capable of striking enemy bases.

Mass production of the long-range Type-12 Surface-to-Ship Missile began in fiscal 2023, and they are expected to be deployed in fiscal 2025.

Although the government has yet to announce where the long-range missiles will go, residents on Ishigakijima island are increasingly worried the weapons will be deployed to their backyard.

Sachiko Fujii, a Ishigaki resident and member of a civic group opposing the GSDF camp, said islanders’ fears are becoming a reality.

“Only military measures have been rapidly taken to counter a possible attack from China,” Fujii, 76, said. “Once the SDF secures a foothold, it will only expand and strengthen what it has.”

The presence of the new GSDF camp on Ishigakijima has been increasingly felt.

The camp was used by the GSDF and the U.S. Marines in a joint exercise called Resolute Dragon 23 in October last year, one of the largest held in Japan.

During the exercise, the GSDF flew its Osprey transport aircraft to the civilian Ishigaki Airport for the first time in Okinawa Prefecture.

Military use of civilian facilities on the island, such as the airport and port, is expanding.

In September, a U.S. minesweeper called at Ishigaki Port, followed by a missile destroyer on March 11.

Japan and the United States reached an agreement in January 2023 to expand access by the SDF and U.S. military to civilian facilities in the two countries.

Col. Yuichiro Inoue, commander of GSDF Camp Ishigaki, told The Asahi Shimbun that the use of civilian facilities on Ishigakijima will be indispensable to the security arrangement, noting that the Ishigaki city government has jurisdiction over the Senkaku Islands.

“In the event of a contingency, having access to the airport and other civilian facilities is crucial in terms of protecting local residents,” Inoue said.

For its part, the U.S. military established the new 12th Marine Littoral Regiment, a seaborne quick-reaction force, on the main island of Okinawa in November.

Col. Peter Eltringham, commander of the regiment, stressed the importance of defending Ishigakijima and nearby islets.

“As Marines, we want to be mobile. We want to be able to very quickly move from one place to another place and ensure that we have the operational depth to do that over and over and over again,” Eltringham said.

“We can move quickly, we can sustain ourselves and we can accomplish our mission no matter where we go.”