Japan-gazer Update — March 08, 2018

平成30年3月8日 = (30th Year of Heisei Era, 3rd Month, 8th Day)

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= This week’s poem:

A Version Of Wisdom

All good things come to them that wait,
Unless you wait too long,
In which case, the saying’s wrong…

{ From my Blog: https://carllafong.blogspot.jp }

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= 5 Things Going On Lately:

(1) Japan Defense Minister Onodera admitted for the first time that his ministry is studying whether it is possible to convert Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF)’s helicopter carriers into models capable of carrying F-35B stealth fighter jets, during a House of Councillors Budget Committee session on 02 MAR. The study is aimed at improving the aeronautical operational capabilities of four Izumo- and Hyuga-class helicopter carriers. JMSDF publicly solicited contractors for the remodeling and commissioned the work to Japan Marine United Corp., the manufacturer of the JMSDF vessels, for 3.78 million yen in fiscal 2017. In response to a question by Japanese Communist Party legislator Koike, Onodera explained that the Defense Ministry is currently conducting a basic survey on short-takeoff and vertical-landing F-35B, as well as both fixed-wing and rotating-wing unmanned aircraft. “It’s not been decided how to operate Izumo, or whether the Self-Defense Forces will introduce F-35Bs,” Onodera told the session. The government has traditionally taken the position that Japan will not possess attack aircraft carriers in line with its exclusively defense-oriented policy. (Mainichi Shimbun)

* COMMENT: Just a guess … but, perhaps in the future, the first F-35B to land on a JMSDF ship may not be Japanese … ? For a hint, get on Google & see what MV-22’s have been doing in recent years during exercise “Dawn Blitz.”
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(2) JMSDF wants to buy its first oil tanker to carry fuel to Okinawa as it cranks up operations in the East China Sea (ECS) to counter a growing Chinese naval presence. JMSDF needs a tanker able to carry 5,000 kilo-liters of fuel to Okinawa where it stores fuel for warships that patrol the region. The plan will be included in a defense review outlining equipment procurement for the five years beginning April 2019. Operations in the ECS, where Japan and China are locked in a territorial dispute over the Senkaku islands, are intensifying as China’s military strength there grows. JMSDF’s oil storage facility in Okinawa (at White Beach) is currently supplied by commercial shippers which usually take two months to complete deliveries once a contract is agreed. Management of the fuel dump, however, has become difficult as the pace of naval operations increase, making it more difficult for the JMSDF to forecast future demand. The tanker is expected to cost “several tens of billions of yen” and will have a crew of up to 20 sailors. (Reuters)

* COMMENT: A former boss of mine, Rear Admiral “Traps” Cloyd, would always tell us: “Amateurs do tactics, but professionals do logistics.” Lots of game theories and crisis simulations about “distant island defense” pretty much fall-apart once planners/players are told “sorry, your units can’t move because they are out of fuel.”
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(3) The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) announced the expansion of their unmanned ocean observation fleet of Wave Gliders to the 9th Regional District, headquartered in Niigata, Japan. This growth is part of JCG’s multi-year, ocean monitoring program to provide enhanced, real-time situational awareness of ocean currents, wave activity, and weather along Japan’s coastlines. Prior to this expansion, JCG deployed fleets of Wave Gliders in four regional districts, forming the first, unmanned ocean observation network in Japan’s history. Wave Gliders are environmentally safe and a more effective way to expand national ocean observation systems when compared to traditional methods such as ships. By utilizing a network of unmanned systems, JCG is able to provide access to continuous, real-time meteorological and oceanographic information from seas where monitoring ships often cannot operate and without putting personnel at risk. (GlobeNewsWire.com)

* COMMENT: OK, another small sign that a lot of the future is going to be autonomous & unmanned … and just waiting for AI to take things to the next level.
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(4) Lawmakers of the Kuomintang (KMT), now a major opposition party in Taiwan after losing the 2016 presidential election, are pressuring the Tsai Ing-wen administration to get an explanation from Tokyo over an assault on a Taiwanese fishing boat that involved powerful water cannons off the sensitive Senkaku Islands last weekend (03-04 MAR). This has prodded Taiwan’s foreign ministry to threaten to recall the island’s de facto ambassador to Japan if it does not receive a formal response. Members of the KMT caucus have called Tokyo’s rough handling of Taiwanese fish boats that accidentally entered disputed waters part of its tactic to browbeat and subjugate Taiwan in the ongoing row over fishing rights and territorial spats. This has become a major sticking point in the otherwise amicable relations between the two sides. KMT lawmakers said Tsai’s affinity towards Tokyo had failed to put Taiwan on an equal footing. However, the Tsai administration has said the incident would not scupper the next round of Taiwan-Japan Fisheries Agreement talks. Controversial issues should be on the negotiating table, including whether the boat crossed the line as Tokyo claimed. Taipei announced on Monday that it had lodged a protest with Tokyo, accusing the Japanese of using excessive force against civilians near Taiwan’s territorial waters and added that the act violated international laws. They stressed that the boat in question did not cross a tentative red line being negotiated by the two sides. A 2013 agreement covers the maritime zone south of 27° north latitude and north of Japan’s Yaeyama and Miyako islands, which are part of the overlapping area of exclusive economic zones claimed by Taiwan and Japan. (AsiaTimes.com)

* COMMENT: Note to self … remember that Taiwan also has territorial claims the Senkaku Islands (and surrounding fishing areas — which is the real issue.)
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(5) 27 FEB, Japanese government is considering newly deploying to the main island of Okinawa a surface-to-ship missile (SSM) unit to beef up defenses in response to China’s maritime assertiveness. Tokyo has been proceeding with a plan to install a surface-to-ship missile unit on Okinawa’s Miyako Island to enhance defense against threats to remote islands in the southwest. But it believes Okinawa (Main) Island should also have a unit as Chinese naval ships have frequently passed between the two islands in the East China Sea. The armaments to be deployed on the islands are expected to be Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Type-12 SSM, with a range of more than 100 km. By placing missile units on Miyako and Okinawa, the Japanese government believes they will be able to cover the entire sea area between the two islands. The unit deployment plan may be included in Japan’s defense buildup guidelines and a new five-year defense spending and procurement plan, both to be crafted by the end of the year. Similar units will also be set up on Okinawa’s Ishigaki Island and Kagoshima’s Amami-Oshima Island. Of note, a JGSDF command center is also expected to be set up on Okinawa’s main island, putting under control the surface-to-ship units stationed on Miyako, Amami-Oshima. and Ishigaki islands. (Kyodo News)

* COMMENT: The process of turning the Ryukyus/Nansei Shoto into Japan’s maritime “Maginot Line” continues, step-by-step. If you do not know what the Maginot Line was, e-search on it, along with “France” and “World War One.”

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< << BONUS >>>

Japan Railways (JR) group firms are steaming ahead with the introduction of free Wi-Fi on their Shinkansen bullet trains, in order to meet foreign visitors’ demands ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and Paralympics. One of the key factors behind JR’s move to introduce free Wi-Fi has been a sense of crisis that it has not been responding adequately to the needs of foreign visitors to Japan. In urban areas, firms such as Toei Subway operated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government and Tokyo Metro Co. have already started providing free Wi-Fi inside trains on some of their lines. The former intends to deliver free Wi-Fi on all of its trains by spring 2020, and the latter by summer 2020. Meanwhile, Toei Bus has already begun providing free Wi-Fi in all of its vehicles, and airport limousine bus companies and highway bus firms are doing the same one by one. Airlines companies are also getting involved — with Japan Airlines Co. kicking off a free Wi-Fi service on its domestic planes in June 2017, and All Nippon Airways set to do the same in April 2018. Regarding free Wi-Fi inside major train stations, the JR firms have delivered in this area, but they have fallen behind in terms of providing the service inside train cars. The government has set a target of increasing the number of visitors to Japan to 40 million by 2020. In order to help achieve this goal, JR East says, “We want to help make foreign visitors’ travel experience more comfortable.”

* COMMENT: WIFI is pretty much available at Starbucks and Tullys coffee shops everywhere in Japan, and at some McDonalds … but Japan still has a long way to go in offering free/public WIFI, which almost is becoming a human right in the Western world, where the thought of being “unconnected” causes chills, fear, and loathing…

Commentary Copyright 2018 Carl LaFong
www.vicocotra.com