Inoda fishing port, seen here in this undated photo, is on the western coast of Ishigaki island, 255 miles southwest of Okinawa. (Okinawa prefecture)
The U.S. Air Force recently concluded weather preparedness training at a remote fishing port in Japan that drew complaints from regional and local authorities.
Officials with Ishigaki city and Okinawa prefecture said last week they were unaware the Air Force planned to train at the city’s Inoda fishing port, and not just to stage equipment there.
The Okinawa Defense Bureau — an arm of Japan’s Ministry of Defense — notified the city’s Fishery Division that all training at the port ended Friday morning, a division spokesman said by phone Tuesday. The city was not told why the training ended, he added.
Only one day of Air Force training was observed on July 15, the spokesman said.
The prefecture’s Military Base Affairs Division asked the defense bureau and the U.S. military to halt the drills on Thursday, according to a post on the division’s X account.
The division made the same request on July 16 to the U.S. Consulate General in Naha and on Friday to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Okinawa Liaison Office, according to posts on X.
Defense bureau officials met on July 16 with Ishigaki Vice Mayor Eichiro Chinen and apologized for the incident, the Ishigaki spokesman said Thursday. Chinen asked the bureau to notify the city before any training takes place.
The 18th Wing at Kadena Air Base, in an unsigned email July 16, said the drills were coordinated with the Japanese government to “enhance response capabilities in the event of severe weather or typhoons.”
The wing acknowledged email and phone inquiries Monday and Tuesday but did not immediately provide responses.
The city had allowed one fishing boat and three rubber boats to dock at the port and approved the installation of a prefabricated warehouse, the Ishigaki spokesman said.
An unnamed city resident had sought city permission on June 24 for the Air Force to store equipment at the port July 7-31, but not to use it as a training site.
About 10 airmen were observed at the port at 11 a.m. on July 15 carrying cargo onto two rubber boats, public broadcaster NHK reported that day, citing unnamed sources. A second boat left the harbor a half-hour later.
Just after noon, two airmen practiced rescuing another airman from waters off the port and administered first aid in the prefabricated warehouse, according to NHK.
The equipment and boats will be removed “on a later day depending on weather conditions,” the city spokesman said.
Ishigaki, part of Okinawa prefecture, is about 255 miles southwest of Okinawa and 186 miles east of Taiwan.
Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki, during a news conference Friday in Naha city, said he was not aware of the training and “deeply regretted” it took place.
“As Okinawa has a vast facility area and is already shouldering an excessive burden of bases, Okinawa prefecture has repeatedly requested the U.S. military and the government not to conduct training outside its facilities and areas to avoid creating any further burden,” he said.
The bureau acknowledged inquiries from Stars and Stripes on Thursday and Tuesday but did not immediately provide responses.
Some Japanese government officials may speak to the media only on condition of anonymity.
