On November 13th, 2023, as part of the “Self-Defense Forces Joint Exercise” involving the Ground, Maritime, and Air Self-Defense Forces and the U.S. military, the Air Self-Defense Force fighter jets conducted takeoff and landing training for the first time at Oita Airport in Oita Prefecture and at Tokunoshima Airport in Kagoshima Prefecture. The training assumed that the Air Self-Defense Force bases were under attack, and their runways were unusable, emphasizing readiness for contingencies around Taiwan and the Senkaku Islands in Okinawa Prefecture. In the afternoon of the same day, four “…