Transcript for:
توسع اليابان العسكري والتحديات

[Music] I'm not meant for war who's coming at me who's coming at me this is me training with the Japanese Army I'm here to get a closer look at Japan's military as they prepare for potential Invasion I'm in Okinawa along this important island chain that stretches all the way down to Taiwan as China grows in influence Japan worries that these islands are vulnerable and unprotected so they're rapidly expanding their military here I plan to visit these military bases to train with their soldiers and to learn if all these bases weapons and troops could provoke the very conflict they're trying to prevent Japan is arming itself like it never has before Japan facing its gravest security threat in decades biggest military buildup since World War II I need to like really step up to the plate and be a [Music] fighter I'm at one of Japan's most important military bases here in Okinawa this is where I'll start my training they're doing morning announcements right now and then they're going to give me my [Music] [Applause] [Music] uniform I've spent SP the last year preparing for this story and as I get dressed my nerves are starting to get the best of [Music] me everything's going smoothly with the uniform until uhoh anything bigger I have a very large head like like abnormally large so anything you can find that's uh huge would be great thank you I have a very big head I'm sorry it's [Music] we start the day with some warm-ups I'm doing my best to follow along but struggling [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] I'm learning I'm learning I'm getting [Applause] there I'm not used to yelling when I work out but I think I should probably adopt that soon I'd be yelling more than I knew I ever could [Applause] [Music] water break I mean I think I need to start working out like these guys the yelling the like the intervals the intensity of it makes it way more fun this is just the beginning though at some point I have to thank today's sponsor so I might as well do that right now I wouldn't be able to make big ambitious videos like this without sponsors so thanks nordvpn for making this trip and this reporting possible a VPN is a way to connect to the internet via a different country which you would want to do for a variety of reasons so like I'm in Japan right now I'm using Nord to connect to the internet via the United States so that my Gmail and all of my accounts don't freak out and think that I'm like someone in Japan trying to get into my email it also allows you to watch content that might not be available in your country but it's more than that nordvpn has become a threat protection tool we live in a time where being on the internet is not as safe as it used to be there is intrusive ads and trackers there's fishing schemes there's all kinds of sophisticated threats nordvpn protects you from all of that with one click you can surf the Internet more safely it's a pretty affordable way to have some peace of mind when you're online Nord also has a variety of other products like Nord pass a password manager they also have encrypted cloud storage all of these tools are affordable and make surfing the internet more secure and smoother so there's a link in my description it's nordvpn.com Johny Harris when you click the link it helps support the channel it also get you in on a bonus of four extra months for free when you sign up for the 2-year plan so go check out nordvpn see if it can make your life easier yeah let's get back to training with the Japanese [Music] Army before World War II Japan had a massive military that was powerful enough to conquer a large chunk of Asia they were able to send planes across the ocean to attack the United States in Hawaii the US fought back and ended up defeating Japan requiring them to write a new Constitution that would dramatically limit their ability to have a military the us then sent tens of thousands of troops to occupy Japan using it as a way to project power and wage conflict in Asia Japan and the US went from enemies to close allies and for the last 70 years Japan has relied on the US presence for their security this has been the status quo but now things are changing in recent years China has risen as a global power and has started behaving more aggressively in the region coupled with North Korea's unpredictable threats and Russia's invasion of Ukraine Japan is now more worried about its [Music] security that's Commander Kima who we ended up talking to later on the beach so we'll hear from him more in a bit but but the point here is that Japan is building back their military and they're doing it quickly focusing on building a chain of new military bases along these Southern Islands this time with the support of the [Music] us back on the base the water break is over and it's time for me to learn how to fight one of the basic training that do for all of their soldiers is is martial [Music] arts it is a mix of karate and Judo and a bunch of other Japanese martial arts that they've been doing for a very long time mixed with some of the stuff they learned from the US Marines the commander just came up and told me that it's a deep part of how they've always trained their soldiers and he said he is sharing some of the soul of Japan with me which felt very touching and cool sir have a good day okay back to it given my extreme lack of martial arts experience I've been paired up with a buddy to help me [Music] out even though we don't understand a word of each other's language I don't know what I would do without him he continued to watch my every move making me refine every punch every kick and I was getting better I got it I got it yeah I'm definitely not ready for combat but could be little training there's potential here I think already the exhaustion is starting to set in which is worrying because I have to keep preparing for a real test fight at the end of all of this I think the guns are coming out next out here in the Pacific if war is going to be fought it's going to be fought on Islands Islands Islands Islands and there's one Island in particular that is just 100 or so kilometers from Japan's territory and that China has vowed to make a part of their country even if by force this is currently thought of as the most likely place for conflict to break out between the United States and China if that were to happen these islands would surely be pulled into the conflict especially because China already claims a group of these disputed islands and in recent years Chin's military officials Scholars have implied that China actually has an historical claim to much of this island chain a similar historical claim narrative that pushed Vladimir Putin to invade [Music] [Music] Ukraine so Japan is focusing on beefing up its ability to quickly move its troops from the ocean onto the beach this is called amphibious Warfare I'm back talking with Commander Jima the head of the amphibious Warfare unit in the Japanese military his job is to defend these islands and today his troops are showing me how they'll do that b I didn't know what the commander meant by elac uh amphibious assault vehicle in El a hover who can I ask about the hovercraft can you just describe that what what is that landing craft air so they're telling me that a hovercraft is vital for amphibious Warfare getting tanks troops and supplies onto Islands quickly I couldn't really imagine it but a few minutes later I didn't have to so this thing right behind me is called an lcap it's this giant hoverboard it's actually hovering above the water and it allows the Japanese Army to go from the ocean onto any Beach God that's loud you don't really realize how big this thing is until it gets onto the shore I mean this thing is massive look at this you see that it's full of these tanks it's full of a bunch of soldiers it's got Humvees the thing's freaking huge and it allows the Japanese Army to come onto an island very quickly like you saw how quickly it just like ramped on to this sand I mean do you see that tank that's a giant f huge tank that was just on that hovercraft the US Marines train with these Japanese soldiers sharing their wisdom on amphibious Warfare to prepare the Japanese Army to defend their Islands and before we get back to my training I want to take you to one of these islands one that is crucial to Japan's new [Music] strategy I took the Drone up and I'm looking at this beautiful Forest once you see it from the air you realize just how expansive and green this is this forest was actually recently deemed a UNESCO world heritage site because it's grimming with all of this unique plant and animal [Music] life and yet right here cut into this Forest is a new military base right on top of this hill it's actually a cause for concern among some of the locals they let me visit the base on top of this jungly hill and I was immediately struck with how new it all felt some of it was still being [Music] finished I could tell there was a lot of excitement about this new base but it quickly became apparent why this base is so [Music] important holy moly right now I'm watching these trucks turn into missile launchers this gives Japan the ability to shoot down aircraft they have another variation that launches missiles to hit surface ships that come anywhere near this island and these missiles are now stationed on several islands along this chain they're giving me a demo of another one of these missile trucks this one's a surface to ship missile allows them to shoot these missiles from here and hit a ship that is somewhere in the ocean it's once again another big capability for defending these islands which is Japan's whole purpose for building up their military on this island chain what's the range confidential confidential uh they wouldn't tell me the range but my reporting showed that these missiles have a range of around 200 km with the newer missile upgrades potentially going up to 12200 km this is a massive new capability for the Japanese Army why is this capability so important for Japan [Music] back at the base my training is going well I've been sitting through some lectures and briefings visiting Japan's Fleet of helicopters and learning about their disaster relief missions I also found some delicious food in the base cafeteria but now it's time to begin gun training freaking exhausted I think cuz this camo is also like incredibly thick my friend doesn't really care that I'm exhausted he believes in me here and he expects nothing but my best the Precision of his moves I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever make him proud but then finally I do woo feels good feels good yeah yeah okay thank you so much I'm nearly ready for my test fight but first I need to learn one last important skill that is unique to this [Music] [Applause] place perhaps the most important of these islands is Okinawa Okinawa has two things hidden deep within its soil the bones of the abandoned bodies that died in a devastating World War II battle and the bombs from that same battle the bombs that never went off I'm learning about how these unexploded bombs are everywhere on this island and part of my training is to learn how to safely detonate them today they're teaching me how to disarm this 250 lb American bomb and even though it's just a practice one I'm still pretty nervous okay my [Music] turn one2 Okay after loosening this delicate fuse I now have to slowly unwind it with my hand without letting it touch the sides by hand one full okay okay [Music] okay okay let's try that again okay so it's with some practice I'm getting [Music] steadier can I pull it out okay okay [Music] oh my god wow that's uh that's scary what you guys do that is um imp I mean to think war is not theoretical for the people here the death toll of the battle of Okinawa is comparable to that of the dropping of the atomic [Music] bombs the horror of those 82 days still lives on here not only in the memories of the people but also in this bomb filled soil all of this new military buildup IS meant to prevent a repeat of this kind of War to deter it but deterring Conflict by militarizing has a mixed record of actually stopping a war and not provoking it there is no clear answer and that tension is now always present down [Music] here I'm surprised to find that my training is actually sticky it's finally time for the last test a fight where I'm going to defend myself using all of the skills I've learned uh we're putting on a jock strap now I don't know if I signed up for not really sure what that entails like what could this be for I'm surrounded by four guys who will run at me randomly and my job is to defend myself using what I've learned feel like I need to like really step up to the plate and be a fighter first with just my hands and feet and and a weapon let's see how this goes okay let's see let's see if I've done my training here we go okay who's coming at me who's coming at me my training definitely Ely is paid off but what I didn't expect is how exhausting this is It's Primal and full of adrenaline and every muscle in my body is firing as I fight back pushing back against all of this heavy armor I have on here he comes again in my moment of need he's always got my back yeah yeah and now with the gun yeah okay hurry up but now I'm totally out of gas I have nothing left last one last one I've never been more tired in my entire life here we go [Applause] [Music] thank [Music] you [Music] holy yeah yeah thank you thank you oh my God I'm not meant for war that was truly I don't think I've been so tired in my life it's exhausting you have this like primal thing running through you where it's like people are attacking you so you keep fighting and they're like yelling it's that was intense wow that's great thanks guys thank you you guys are tough it was time to go than so after a group photo I said goodbye to these soldiers who let me train with them it was time to head to the towns and villages to talk to the locals about how they feel about all of [Music] this I know that Japan is transitioning to being a country that once again has its own military it's doubling its defense budget it's building all these bases on these islands and I'm trying to understand from a local perspective how locals are are feeling about the fact that Japan is growing its Army once again it's a very you know sensitive area in March 1945 when the US was closing in on Japan they had to go through the island of okanawa the Japanese Army was losing this war and in an effort to make it as grueling as possible the Japanese military armed the civilians on this island preparing their soldiers to fight until the very end this turned the people on this island into a kind of wall a sacrifice that would hopefully keep the Americans from invading the mainland American troops landed here on April 1st 1945 my grandfather was 18 years old at the time and was one of the first Americans to hit the beach before the horror started it was Japan's final hour and in incredibly Furious combat enemy soldiers had to be destroyed cave by cave and one by one a quarter of all civilians were killed in this battle the Bloodshed was unimaginable over 240,000 people dead in total leading the US to conclude that dropping two atom bombs on Japan was a better choice than continuing with this bloody Island Warfare after the war many of the Dead on okanawa were never recovered this is Mr takamatsu he's a local okan who's dedicated him self to searching the island looking for bones the bones of the people who died in the Battle of Okinawa he tries to get their DNA tested so he can return it to the families of the dead today he's looking for bones in this cave that served as a bomb shelter there are still burn marks from the flamethrowers used in that battle almost 80 years ago he says the cave was full of the bones of women and children hiding during the [Music] fighting as he searches he prays for peace [Music] [Music] to okan the remains of the Dead are sacred they still have life so even here 80 years later this soil is still haunted by the horrific realities of War this trauma Still Remains in this soil with the bombs and the bones the loss [Music] [Music] back on the island of amami osima the community is split about the arrival of the military onto their little pristine Island [Music] on one hand this base up on the hill is there to protect the people of Japan against an increasingly aggressive neighbor plus the people here told me that the soldiers are very kind in addition to providing much needed economic benefit to local businesses but nearly every local I talked to had pieced together the deadly logic of military calculations like the one Japan is making here okay could this be considered a target for an enemy now that there's missiles here the new base is changing the island not only because of the threat of War but also because the base sits at top this hill surrounded by a UNESCO world heritage Forest brimming with unique and endangered plants and [Music] animals I hiked through this forest with some locals who say that since the base was built this delicate ecosystem has been damaged adding yet another layer of resentment towards the military presence the people down here live with the memory of what their geography has turned them into the front line of defense for any invading [Music] [Music] Army trauma is there that experience they stays there memory still there 8 years ago doesn't change at [Music] all these conversations came with so much internal emotional conflict do do you feel safer because of that deterrent that one is yes or [Music] [Music] no I came to these islands to train with the military to immerse myself in this unique time in Japan's history but what I found when I got here was a much more complicated and emotional story than I had anticipated not just because of Japan's complicated relationship with its military but specifically because how that history has been born by the people who live on these islands the human wall that protected the country and might have to do so again the people who live among the undetonated bombs and the abandoned bones that have little hope of ever being recognized the people who are now caught carrying the psychological weight of wondering if these new bases make them a Target or if without them they will be left without protection war and conflict make these questions unknowable all we can do is wait meanwhile the Japanese military will continue on its course to build a proper military to protect and defend their country focusing on amphibious Warfare and hoping that their efforts will be enough to make China or any other enemy think twice about acting any more aggressively than they already have hoping that all of this doesn't provoke the very War it is trying to deter [Music] [Applause] [Music]