In this file photo dated Sept 19, 2025, a soldier takes part in ‘Orient Shield 25’, during a joint military exercise with the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, the US and Australian Armies, at Sekiyama Training Area in Niigata prefecture, Japan. (PHOTO/AP)
TOKYO – Japan’s Defense Ministry on Monday informed the city of Iwakuni in Yamaguchi prefecture that Typhon intermediate-range missile system deployed at the local US base had been withdrawn.
Japan’s Self-Defense Forces and the US military conducted a large-scale joint drill from Sept 11 to Sept 25 across Japan’s Kyushu and other areas, during which the US military deployed Typhon system in Japan for the first time.
Kyodo News quoted sources from Iwakuni city as saying that the Defense Ministry had previously promised to remove the system about a week after the exercise ended.
Civic groups from Hiroshima and Yamaguchi prefectures on Nov 10 submitted a petition, calling on the Japanese government to urge the US military to withdraw its Typhon system deployed in Iwakuni, amid concerns that the temporary deployment under the guise of a joint exercise could become permanent.
AloJapan.com