More than twice a day, Japanese fighter pilots hear the sound of a siren, shoot out of their seats, run towards their jets, and shout aloud, ready to intercept a potentially unidentified incursion into Japanese airspace.
It happened to the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) 947 times in the last fiscal year that ended in March. The culprit in most of those cases, the fighter jets of the China People’s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF).
And Shirota says that the number of possible incursions is growing.
“The number of revolts against airspace violations has increased rapidly over the past decade, especially in the southwestern air zone,” Shirota said in an exclusive interview with CNN. “About 70% of the revolts carried out annually by the Japan SDF take place in this area.”
Japan’s Defense Ministry released a map in March showing the flight routes of Chinese and Russian planes that Japanese fighter pilots rose to intercept. Chinese flight routes are shown in red. Its density makes the East China Sea, the part of the Pacific Ocean between China and the southern islands of Japan, look like a red sea.
Chinese flights do not violate international law. According to the Japanese Defense Ministry, of the 675 times Japanese fighters fought Chinese aircraft in the last fiscal year, not once did the Chinese aircraft fly within the internationally recognized 12-mile territorial limit.
And even then, China says that the presence of its forces within the Senkakus / Diaoyu island chain is within its sovereign rights.
“Diaoyu Island and the affiliated islands are China’s inherent territory, China is determined to safeguard our territorial sovereignty,” said Zhao Lijian, spokesman for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, in June.
China’s foreign affairs and defense ministries did not respond to CNN’s requests for comment on this specific Japanese report.
Still, Japan says Chinese planes often intrude on its Air Defense Identification Zone (ADIZ), which can vary in size based on location.
The US Federal Aviation Administration defines an ADIZ as “a designated area of airspace over land or water within which a country requires immediate and positive identification, location, and control of aircraft air traffic in the interest of the country’s national security. “
Shirota, the 40-year-old commander of the 204th JASDF Tactical Fighter Squadron at Naha Air Base in Okinawa, has his pilots on alert 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, to do just that.
“The Air Self-Defense Force is the only entity capable of protecting Japan’s territory and airspace,” he says.
And while there have been no shooting incidents with Chinese planes, it is always a tense job, Shirota says.
“We stand guard on the ground all the time under tension,” says the Japanese pilot. “He says the same thing while we’re in heaven. We keep motivation high all the time.”
“Because we never know what we will face once we go up to heaven. We could see them (Chinese planes) depart, or we could face,” he says.
The readiness of the Japanese pilots is remarkable when considering their cargo. No western air force approaches Japan in the number of times its fighter jets fight potentially hostile planes.
The air forces of the 27 European members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) together flew less than half of interceptions last year than Japan.
“I can tell you that during the 12-month period of 2019, NATO planes went to the skies approximately 430 times to intercept or visually identify unidentified aircraft that flew in, near, or into NATO airspace,” Lt. Colonel Michael Wawrzyniak, head of public affairs for the Allied Air Command in Germany, told CNN.
Japan has seen no such respite. Using the same 2007 time frame as NORAD, even in its slowest year, 2009, Japan flipped its fighter jets over 200 times.
Analyst Peter Layton, a former pilot of the Royal Australian Air Force now with the Griffith Asia Institute, believes that China’s pressure on Japan by air is part of a broader plan.
“I think China wants to keep the JASDF unbalanced and reactive, wear down its planes and aircrew, get training and keep up the pressure on who owns the disputed islands on a daily basis,” Layton told CNN.
“The JASDF fleet of some 215 F-15J aircraft carries the brunt of the fighting tasks,” he wrote.
“Since 2016, the JASDF has often launched four planes for each stir.
“These daily revolts are gradually wearing down the F-15J fleet. The concern is that China has about six times as many fighters as the JASDF, and could further increase intrusions when deemed appropriate. The service life of the F-15J Japan’s fleet is now almost a decision for China, “Layton said.
Layton told CNN that Tokyo cannot back down, however.
“The Japanese believe that they should respond whenever, otherwise, it could be interpreted that they are less committed to territorial property,” he said.
And Japan is stepping up its responses to possible Chinese threats.
A Defense Ministry official said Japanese fighters are now fighting as soon as Chinese planes take off from their continental bases within reach of the Senkakus. They had previously waited until Chinese planes headed for Japanese airspace.
In its 2020 Defense White Paper released this month, Tokyo noted Beijing’s pressure on the Senkakus.
“China has relentlessly continued unilateral attempts to change the status quo through coercion in the sea area around the Senkaku Islands, which has generated serious concern,” he said.
“The Chinese Navy and Air Force have in recent years expanded and intensified their activities in the surrounding maritime areas and airspace of Japan, and there are cases involving unilateral escalation of activities,” the White Paper said.
But the F-3 is years away from the assembly line, and the F-35s won’t come in the kind of numbers that could affect China’s advantage there.
Then the burden will fall on Shirota and his fellow Airmen.
“Japan is surrounded by the sea. Therefore, the invasion comes from the ocean or from the sky. If the invasion comes from the air, everything will happen very quickly,” he says.
“Ensuring air defense is directly related to the protection of Japan, the lives and assets of the Japanese people,” says Shirota. “I am sincerely fulfilling my duty as an officer of the Air Self-Defense Force with a strong will to protect Japan.”
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