Taipei, Taiwan — Japan’s southern island of Kyushu is known for its volcanic landscape and tonkatsu ramen, but the popular tourist destination is ground zero for one of the greatest shifts in Japan’s defence strategy since 1947, when it formally renounced the use of war to settle international disputes.In late March, Japan deployed long-range missiles to Kumamoto Prefecture on the island’s southwest coast. Unlike previous defence installations, these missiles could hit China, reflecting the fact that Beijing has ranked as Japan’s top national security threat above North Korea and Russia since 2019.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemsend of listDefence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters at the time that “Japan faces the most severe and complex security environment in the post-war era” and the country must strengthen its “deterrence and responsiveness”.Known as the “southern shield,” the new front in Japan’s defence strategy has seen the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF), as the country’s military is formally known, deploy a range of weapons platforms as well as electronic warfare and air assets in southern Japan and its southwest outlying islands.“The balance is changing. The defence posture has completely shifted towards the southwest, so the north is much less prioritised,” Kazuto Suzuki, director of the Institute of Geoeconomics, an independent think tank in Tokyo, said.The ‘southern shield’Much of Japan’s growing defence budget, which hit a record $58bn for th …
