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Japan—a key ally in the United States’ strategy to counter potential Chinese aggression—has expanded the number of airports and seaports available for use in the event of a contingency.
A total of 14 airports and 26 seaports in Japan are designated for “specified use” by the Self-Defense Forces and the coast guard, located across the country’s main and outlying islands.
Newsweek has reached out to the Japanese Defense Ministry for further comment via email. China‘s Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to a written request for comment.
Why It Matters
Under a U.S. containment strategy, Japan is part of a north-south defensive line—known as the First Island Chain—along with Taiwan and the Philippines, aimed at projecting deterrence and restricting China’s military activity in the Western Pacific in the event of war.
China has threatened to take the self-ruled Taiwan—a U.S. security partner that Beijing considers to be a breakaway province—by force, potentially jeopardizing the security of Japan’s Ryukyu Islands, which lie between the southwest of the country’s main islands and the northeast of Taiwan. The main Ryuku island, Okinawa, hosts a key U.S. air base at Kadena.
The designation of airports and seaports for specified use is part of Japan’s national security strategy aimed at strengthening its defense posture, allowing what Tokyo describes as the “smooth use” of these public facilities by the Self-Defense Forces and the coast guard.
What To Know
Citing a Japanese government official, the newspaper the Sankei Shimbun reported on August 21 that three airports—Aomori Airport, Sendai Airport and Yamaguchi Ube Airport—and Aomori Port will be designated for specified use, joining 11 other airports and 25 seaports.
A Newsweek map shows that half of these 40 airports and seaports are located on the Ryukyu Islands and Kyushu—the southernmost of Japan’s four main islands—reflecting a focus on defense in the southwest. The rest are on Shikoku, Honshu and Hokkaido islands.
According to the report, following the designation, airports will extend runways and build parking areas to support flight operations by fighter jets and transport aircraft. Seaports will have nearby seabed dredged and quays constructed to accommodate naval and transport vessels.
While Tokyo has stated that the purpose of designating civilian airports and seaports is not to establish military bases, the dual use of these facilities has raised concerns that they could be targeted militarily, posing a risk to civilians living nearby.
As part of its rapid military buildup, China possesses a large ballistic missile arsenal capable of striking U.S. military bases throughout Japan, according to a Pentagon assessment report.
Japan has been bolstering its missile defenses amid threats from China and North Korea, acquiring two Aegis System Equipped Vessels (ASEVs) to defend against ballistic missile attacks.
By ensuring airports and seaports can be used effectively by the military and coast guard, Japan’s deterrence and response capabilities will be enhanced, thereby reducing the likelihood of an attack and improving the safety of the Japanese people, Tokyo says.
Kyodo via AP Images
In addition to supporting military deployment during a contingency, the designated airports and seaports will be used by the Self-Defense Forces and the coast guard for training, transporting goods, evacuating people, and responding to disasters in peacetime.
What People Are Saying
Japan’s Cabinet Secretariat explained on its website: “Japan is in the most severe security environment since the end of the war. In order to effectively respond based on such a security environment, we have established a ‘framework for smooth use’ with infrastructure managers (local governments, etc.) so that the Self-Defense Forces and the Japan Coast Guard can use private airports and seaports smoothly as necessary.”
Japan’s defense white paper 2025 said: “China’s external posture, military activities, and other activities are a matter of serious concern for Japan and the international community and present an unprecedented and the greatest strategic challenge which Japan should respond [to] with its comprehensive national power and in cooperation and collaboration with its [allies], like-minded countries, and others.”
What Happens Next
It remains to be seen whether Japan will expand the list of “specified-use airports and seaports” amid China’s growing military presence around the First Island Chain.
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