In Iran conflict, Japan shows improved evacuation readiness

As the Iran war expands across the Middle East, Japan has been accelerating efforts to evacuate its citizens — a response that underscores both Tokyo’s growing security role overseas and the diplomatic balancing act between Washington and Gulf states hosting Japanese nationals.

Late Sunday, 107 Japanese nationals arrived in Narita International Airport on a government-chartered aircraft as part of the ongoing evacuation effort from the Middle East. Tokyo has facilitated the evacuation of hundreds of Japanese nationals since the outbreak of hostilities in the region on Feb. 28, including 208 people who were evacuated from Doha to Riyadh by land for an arrival in Japan on Tuesday.

The effort demonstrated unprecedented speed and interagency coordination of government assets for the evacuation effort, while signaling Tokyo’s priority of protecting its citizens abroad amid the Iran conflict. In contrast, for example, during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal in Afghanistan the Japanese government took eight days to authorize the Self-Defense Forces to dispatch aircraft for the evacuation of Japanese nationals. SDF aircraft did not arrive in the region until 10 days after the fall of Kabul.