The Air Self-Defense Force's top command post began operating Monday at U.S. Yokota Air Base after being transferred from a nearby city under a bilateral agreement signed in 2006.
The transfer of the Air Defense Command, the ASDF's nerve center mainly dealing with airspace intrusions and ballistic missile interceptions, to the base in western Tokyo is part of efforts to bolster joint operations between the U.S. military in Japan and the Self-Defense Forces, defense officials said.
The moving of the ASDF's top command post outside the Defense Ministry's Air Staff Office comes ahead of a rocket launch by North Korea in April that Japan and the United States believe to be a cover for an ICBM test.
Yokota is now hosting the headquarters not only of the USAF in Japan, but of all U.S. military forces in the country.
Japan and the U.S. set up a joint operations coordination center in an underground part of the ASDF's new command post that is linked to the U.S. Air Force by an underpass.
Haruhiko Kataoka, ASDF chief of staff, said it is important to share information with U.S. forces and coordinate actions promptly because the time given for effectively using the missile defense system is extremely short. The transfer of the top command post "is extremely important in light of the Japan-U.S. security alliance," he said.
But one senior ASDF official wondered whether it can truly be independent while on the premises of a U.S. installation. "It's odd that the top command is placed on a base under the control of a foreign military even if that is of an ally," the official said.