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| DDH183 Izumo Helicopter Carrier/Destroyer |
Christopher P. Cavas
Mindful of the past, Japan straddles the lanes of armed deterrence, staunchly supporting the US while striving to avoid an aggressive stance. But in an increasingly dangerous neighborhood, where China challenges Japan in the Senkaku Islands, North Korea is constantly rattling nerves and a resurgent Russia remains a question mark, the Japanese military is clearly on a heightened state of alert.
Japan continues to steadily modernize its naval and military forces. The Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF) is fielding two new 24,000-ton helicopter-carrying destroyers and building up its Aegis ballistic missile defense fleet. Soryu-class submarines with advanced propulsion are being delivered annually, and new Kawasaki P-1 aircraft are replacing older US-built P-3C Orions in the maritime surveillance role.
Takei spoke with Defense News in February at his headquarters in Tokyo. He spoke both in English and through a translator.
How do you characterize your relationship with the American Navy?
The relationship between the US Navy — especially the Seventh Fleet — and the Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force is a core for the Japan-US alliance and also the core of the peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region. The good relationship between the US Navy and JMSDF could become a basis for the further maritime relationship, for example US-Japan-Australia, US-Japan-India, US-Japan-South Korea as well.
So I would like to keep and enhance the relationship with the US Navy. In April last year, the Japan-US agreement for defense cooperation was revised, improving our peacetime cooperation and enhancing our deterrence capability. The cooperation with the US military, including the US Marine Corps and especially the US Navy — which is the core of the US-Japan alliance — is very indispensable for Japan to ensure peace and stability in this region. This close cooperation between the JMSDF and the US Navy is created by interaction over the last 60 years.
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