On December 21, Japan's Minister of Defense, Shinjiro Koizumi, visited the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Ainoura site in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture to attend the “Land and Field Movement Regiment” exercise for the local outlying islands defense force known as the “Japanese version of the Marines.” During this period, Koizumi declared to the media that “the task of strengthening the defense system in the southwest region is urgent.”

On December 21, Japan's Minister of Defense, Shinjiro Koizumi, visited the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Ainoura site in Sasebo City, Nagasaki Prefecture to attend the “Land and Field Movement Regiment” exercise for the local outlying islands defense force known as the “Japanese version of the Marines.” During this period, Koizumi declared to the media that “the task of strengthening the defense system in the southwest region is urgent.”