Japan Conducts the First Ever Live-fire Missile Test from its Territory
On June 24 Japan test fired a Type 88 surface-to-ship missile from the Shizunai Firing Range on the island of Hokkaido. The target was an unmanned boat located 40km from the launcher and whether the test was succesful has not been announced by Japanese officials. This live-fire marked a significant historic event as up until that point Japan had never launched a missile from its own territory. Previously Japan has exclusively conducted live-fire tests from allied territory in Australia and the United States. This was done to avoid antagonizing both its own domestic audience as well as neighboring states such as China but as tensions continue to rise this avoidance is slowly fading.
Despite setting a new precedent the test still showed a hesitancy to antagonize its neighbors. Hokkaido is the northernmost island of Japan, as far away from China as is possible. Additionally the missile was launched from the island’s southern coast which avoided any unintended signals towards its northern neighbor Russia. Also of note, the 40km test range is less than a third of the weapon’s 150km max range.
Ever since World War Two Japan has been a uniquely pacifist nation but as tension in the region increased over the last decade this has gradually changed. China’s massive buildup of offensive missile systems saw a response in 2022 when Japan released a National Security Strategy that committed to acquiring “counterstrike” missile systems that would allow Japan to fire back at China. This act was symbolized by the acquisition of Tomahawks which Japan signed on for in 2024. It has also greatly expanded Japan’s domestic missile development including a new advanced anti-ship missile claimed to be an ‘improved’ version of the Type 12 SSM despite being structurally totally different. This missile increases the range of the Type 12 from 200km to 1,000km.
The choice of the Type 88 in this test is interesting because it is a relatively old anti-ship missile compared to the Type 12 and Type 12 Improved. It is possible that Japan is testing how the older missiles have aged 40 years after entering service. For future tests Japan intends to construct a firing range at the island of Minamitorishima which is located deep in the Pacific nearly 2,000 km southeast of Tokyo. This will allow Japan to test long-range weapons like the Type 12 Improved without drawing potential ire from its neighbors.