The ceremony for the deployment of the first land/sea missile unit for the Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force on the main Okinawa island was launched today, Saturday, as Japan strengthens its defenses amid China's assertion of its maritime influence.

Deputy Defense Minister Makoto Oniki emphasized the critical importance of Okinawa's location to national security, which is located nearly in the middle of a chain of Japanese islands stretching 1200 kilometers from the main Kyushu island in the far south towards Taiwan, according to the Japanese news agency Kyodo.

The ceremony followed the establishment of the land/sea missile regiment on the 21st of this month, and the regiment equipped with 12 guided land/sea missiles will have the mission to monitor Chinese warships, which often sail between the main Okinawa island and Miyako island.

Land/sea missile units are also being deployed on the islands of Miyako and Ishigaki in Okinawa Prefecture and Amami-Oshima island in Kagoshima Prefecture.

Okinawa Prefecture hosts most of the U.S. military facilities in Japan.