Japan urgently deploys troops toward Russia over 'Far East front' fears

Japan's Defence Minister Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi has expressed concern over Russia's increasing military activities in the Far East region.

Koizumi said during a visit to military bases in Hokkaido on Saturday that this made strengthening the defence of Japan’s northernmost main island essential.

Russia's military posture in the region "is a cause for serious concern along with its strategic cooperation with China", broadcaster NHK reported Koizumi as saying.

"Even as the importance of strengthening the defence of the southwestern regions grows, Hokkaido remains a vital region, and it is necessary to continue maintaining an impeccable defence system here," he added.

Tokyo has been worried that Russia could open a second front in the Far East. As a result, the Japanese government is rapidly moving forces toward the Russian border on the island of Hokkaido.

Russia has been deploying arms to the Sea of Okhotsk, north of Hokkaido, according to a visiting researcher at Kanazawa University’s Institute of Human and Social Sciences, Shingo Nagata.

Moscow has deployed Su-35 fighter jets and anti-ship missiles to what Tokyo calls the Northern Territories: four disputed islets off Hokkaido’s northeastern coast that Russia administers as the Southern Kuril Islands.

Chinese and Russian forces have also routinely carried out joint exercises in Japanese airspace and waters.

"In light of these mounting tensions, Hokkaido has undoubtedly become the forefront of Japan’s national defence, alongside the southwestern region," he said.

Nagata said that Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force had been drilling rapid troop redeployment to prepare for a Russian "diversionary operation around Hokkaido to support China during a crisis".

Russia is understood to have expanded its nuclear submarine base on the Kamchatka peninsula and appears set to establish a Pacific Fleet branch of its deep-sea research unit which responsible for special undersea operations.

The nuclear-powered submarine Khabarovsk is designated for the Pacific Fleet, Koizumi said, adding that Japan needs to prepare for a new era of seabed warfare, South China Morning Post reported.

"For this reason," he said. "The movements of Russia’s nuclear submarine fleet will remain a major security concern for Japan."