New Ground Self-Defense Force Camp Opens in Saga; Osprey Transport Aircraft Will Operate from Site

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:18 JST, July 9, 2025

SAGA — A new Ground Self-Defense Force camp, Camp Saga, began operating on Wednesday on the northwest side of Saga Airport in Saga City, as Osprey tiltrotor transport aircraft were officially deployed to the site for the first time.

This camp will be responsible for jobs such as transporting units of the Amphibious Rapid Deployment Brigade, based in Sasebo, Nagasaki Prefecture, which is tasked with defending and recapturing remote islands.

Camp Saga is part of Japan’s “Southwest Shift” in defense capabilities, a strategy primarily aimed at countering China’s increasing maritime expansion. It is the first new GSDF camp established since Camp Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture in 2023.

The Osprey aircraft combine the vertical takeoff and landing capabilities of a helicopter with the high-speed cruising of a fixed-wing aircraft, enabling rapid deployment of troops to remote islands under invasion. The 17 Ospreys operated by the GSDF have until now been provisionally deployed at Camp Kisarazu in Chiba Prefecture. The GSDF plans to transfer all of them to Saga by mid-August.

Prior to Wednesday’s inauguration ceremony, one Osprey landed on the runway at Saga Airport, adjacent to the new camp, shortly after 10:20 a.m.

The Defense Ministry plans to conduct about 16 Osprey takeoffs and landings per day on average, with about five of these occurring at night. As there is a broad residential area on the north side of Saga Airport, the GSDF intends to primarily fly the Ospreys southward, over the Ariake Sea, to mitigate noise pollution.

In 2023, a U.S. military Osprey crashed off Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture. Fishermen who opposed the deployment of the aircraft filed a lawsuit against the government, seeking an injunction to halt the construction of Camp Saga. On Wednesday, citizen groups protesting the deployment also staged demonstrations in front of the new camp.

Four Ospreys flew on Sunday from their provisional deployment location at Camp Kisarazu to Vice-Camp Takayubaru in Mashiki, Kumamoto Prefecture, as part of their transfer to Camp Saga. Another Osprey departed on Wednesday.