滝本 匠 
July 22, 2022 Ryukyu Shimpo
An accident that never should have occurred has happened. A Miyakojima Coast Guard patrol boat moored at Port Nagayama in Irabu, Miyakojima accidentally fired eight 20mm cannon rounds towards land.
The live-fire mistake starts with the Japanese Coast Guard (JCG). The misfire was caused by human error while practicing with the cannon, which bring into question whether or not a safety measure to confirm that the cannons were set to disable firing was in place. Not to mention that the cannons should not have been pointed towards land in the first place. The organization to thoroughly investigate the situation, and needs to implement rigorous steps to ensure that this does not happen again.
According to sources such as the 11th Regional Coast Guard Headquarters, the crew aboard the patrol boat Shimoji were conducting an inspection and loading the ammunition box with rounds the morning of July 19 around 8:30 a.m. Thereafter, the captain ordered crewmembers to drill with the cannons.
The cannons were armed to fire, however the captain believed that they were disarmed, and instructed the crew to do a “dry fire” exercise.
At a press conference on July 20, they explained that “there was a misunderstanding” between the captain and crew. There was a lack of caution and sense of responsibility by those who were handling a weapon meant to maim and kill humans. Confirming whether the connection that allows live rounds to be fired or not is active should be a standard part of training. There needs to be a reexamination to see if there is organizational sloppiness.
At the time of the shooting, they explained that there was an accidental firing, however in the press conference the following day it was disclosed that the misfire occurred during drills after the inspection. During the drill the cannons’ sights were aimed at a thicket alongside prefectural Rte. 252. There is also an aviation refueling depot near the port as well. No one was harmed during this incident, but it would not have been a far stretch for this to have turned into a major disaster.
Takuya Fukumoto, head of the Miyakojima Coast Guard Office, explained, “There are two patrol boats in the area, and after determining that there were no people in the area, the aimed the cannons at the thicket. We are still investigating if they had showed reasonable judgement.” However, even in a “dry fire” exercise, it is unthinkable that the guns would be pointed in the direction of a civilian area. This is clearly something that should not be allowed.
In the background of the servicing of cannons in the civilian Port Nagayama, there is also the incursion of ships into the territorial waters around the Senkaku islands to contend with. In 2016, the JCG appointed a security department in the Miyakojima Coast Guard office in order to strengthen their ability to ward off the incursions of Chinese vessels. Nine patrol boats were deployed to Port Nagayama, which at the time was sitting idle.
In 2021, China passed the Coast Guard Law, which allowed coast guard ships to use weapons, which as expected increased tensions around the defense of territorial waters. However, if weapons were used in the Senkaku islands, it would pull the entire southwestern archipelago into armed conflict.
In order to ensure that an incident never escalates into weapon usage, it is necessary to quickly establish a hotline between Japan and China in case of an incident such as an accidental collision.
(English translation by T&CT and Sam Grieb)
