A quiet Japanese island has found itself on the front lines of the tense dispute over Taiwan.
Growing tensions between China and Taiwan, a self-governing democracy that Beijing claims is part of its territory, has transformed Japan’s once quaint ecotourism destination into a military fortress.
Yonaguni, Japan’s westernmost island, is located just shy of 100 miles from the Taiwanese capital of Taipei, making it a strategic frontline outpost for Japan and allies like the US. In a reminder of the island’s new status, a cattle ranch has become a military base, and authorities are expanding the port to accommodate larger warships.
“As a child, I was so proud of this westernmost border island,” Fumie Kano, an innkeeper on Yonaguni, told the Associated Press. “But recently, we are repeatedly told this place is dangerous, and I feel so sad.”
While the influx of troops has boosted the island’s security and economy, residents are forced to brace themselves against a possible conflict mere miles away.
Japan’s westernmost island
Located over 300 miles from Okinawa’s main island, Yonaguni Island is considered the most remote of all the Okinawan islands. The island has an area of about 11 square miles — roughly the same size as Disney World’s Magic Kingdom theme park.
Only a third of the island is inhabited by three villages — Sonai, Kubura, and Higawa — with the remaining area being covered by farmland and vegetation.
Fishing, agriculture, and tourism are the main sources of livelihood for the island’s tiny population of about 1,500 people.
The island was once home to 12,000 people in the late 1940s, but has shrunk to less than 2,000 people in recent years.
Known for natural beauty — and Bad Bunny
Yonaguni is known for its picturesque landscapes and rare animal species, including three-foot-tall ponies that can only be found on the island. The Atlas moth, considered the world’s largest moth with a wingspan of nearly 10 inches, is also native to the island.
As Japan’s westernmost inhabited island, it is the last place in Japan to see the setting sun.
In 2021, the island also inspired Bad Bunny’s chart-topping reggaeton song, Yonaguni, in which the Puerto Rican rapper sings in both Spanish and Japanese.
Home to Japan’s so-called ‘Atlantis’
The island is also known for mysterious underwater ruins stretching over 300 feet near its southern coast, known as the Yonaguni Monument. Whether the monument was manmade or naturally formed is still under debate, with scientists estimating that the megalith could have been created long before humans had the means to create such a structure.
Divers have spotted hammerhead sharks and, on rare occasions, a whale shark, the largest fish in the world.
Arming the island
Yonaguni lies less than 70 miles from the east coast of Taiwan between the East China Sea and the Philippine Sea.
As China’s military presence continues to grow in the region, Japan has strengthened its military presence, particularly on its southwestern islands, such as Ishigaki, Miyako, and Yonaguni.
A cattle ranch on Yonaguni has been transformed into a military base, and Japanese forces plan to expand an airport and port on the island’s south coast to accommodate large ships.
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force has deployed US-made PAC-3 interceptor missile units and Japanese surface-to-air missile systems to the southwestern islands.
Tom Shugart, former US Navy submariner and adjunct senior fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said the missile systems could be useful in a conflict scenario over Taiwan.
“If Japan is involved in helping to defend Taiwan, which it has said it might, then that system might be useful,” Shugart told Newsweek. “Not so much for protecting any large-scale infrastructure on Yonaguni — because I don’t think there is any — but it might be useful for protecting offensive systems that could be used against China.”
Idyllic island to fortified fortress
Despite residents voting to bring Japanese military forces and assets to the island, some locals remain apprehensive about the rapid militarization of the island.
“Even those who voted in favour of the base are scared about missiles being based here,” Toshio Sakimoto, a local councillor, told The Guardian. “I worry whenever something is happening in Taiwan, such as an election or Chinese military drills.”
To quell islanders’ fears about what would happen in an actual emergency, officials released a plan last detailing the evacuation of 120,000 residents on remote islands in just under a week.
Yonaguni Mayor Kenichi Itokazu proposed building a basement shelter and expanding its port to support evacuation efforts by sea, though skepticism still surrounds the contingency efforts.
“It’s absurd,” Kano, the Yonaguni innkeeper, told AP of the evacuation plan. “I just hope the money will be spent on policies that will help the people in Yonaguni live peacefully.”
A growing military presence
Not only has the landscape of Yonaguni changed in recent years, but the population is also experiencing a shift.
Following a 2015 referendum, hundreds of Japanese troops have been deployed to Yonaguni, including a coast watch unit and an electronic warfare unit.
The local economy has improved and, in turn, grown largely dependent on Japanese military personnel and their families which now make up a fifth of the island’s population, sparking concerns for local civilians.
“Everything is pushed through in the name of the Taiwan emergency,” Kyoko Yamaguchi, a local potter, told the AP, “and many feel this is too much.”
Public data forecasts that the troop population and their dependents could make up over 31% of the island’s tiny 1,500-member population, The Guardian reported, with the potential to rise to almost 40% the following year.
Tetsu Inomata, a café owner who lived in Yonaguni for 20 years, told The Guardian that he believes the Japanese armed forces could overtake the island’s civilian population in the next few years.
Disrupting the peace
Residents of the island have seen firsthand China’s increasing military presence in the region.
In 2022, China fired several ballistic missiles into Japan’s southwestern waters, one of which landed just 50 miles from Yonaguni island near 20 fishing boats, though no injuries or damage was reported in the incident.
“It was an extremely dangerous exercise that really made us feel China’s potential threat right next to us,” Shigenori Takenishi, chief of Yonaguni’s fisheries association, told the AP.
In August, the US Marine Corps deployed radar to Camp Yonaguni after Chinese Y-9 electronic intelligence aircraft and two drones presumed to belong to China passed near the island during surveillance missions of Taiwan.
The next month, Chinese aircraft carrier Liaoning transited through waters between Yonaguni and Iriomote Islands, which drew concern from the West. The percentage of Chinese warships passing through the Yonaguni Channel has increased since 2020 from 0 to over 26% as of 2024, according to Japan’s defense ministry.
The US and Japan have also conducted military drills in the region, in part to project power against China. Stressed by ongoing military activity, locals criticized the drills as disrupting the island’s serenity.
A divided community
The militarization of the once-tranquil island has left residents divided on whether the buildup has been beneficial or detrimental.
Supporters say Japanese military personnel have been crucial for the island’s safety and a much-needed boost to its struggling local economy. Prior to hosting Japanese troops, Yonaguni officials had planned to form economic relations through commercial exchanges with Taiwan via direct ferries between the islands.
Critics have accused the US and Japan of exploiting the island simply for the sake of military posturing against China, with little to no regard for its impact on its residents and the environment.
“I think the plan has been to have long-range missiles here that are capable of reaching the coast of China,” Inomata, the café owner, told The Guardian. “We’re being used by the Americans, and Japanese leaders like Fumio Kishida and Shinzō Abe have been willing participants. For them, everything is about defense.”
‘Beautiful island turning into a battlefield’
Shoko Komine, a local restaurant owner, told The Guardian that there’s a chance Yonaguni could get “dragged into” a conflict over Taiwan, which would drive people away from visiting the island.
“I don’t think there is going to be a conflict any time soon, but even the risk of something happening will stop tourists from coming,” Komine said. “The town government should put more effort into promoting tourism, but at the moment it is obsessed with defense.”
Yonaguni residents fear the military build-up could tarnish the island’s reputation as a peaceful island known for its untamed wildlife and beauty.
“Being at the center of this issue is very stressful for residents,” local shopkeeper Takako Ueno told the AP. “I don’t want people to imagine this beautiful island turning into a battlefield.”
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