石垣島

choi

Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno, 担忧台海冲突，日本在近台湾岛屿部署导弹发射器. 纽约时报, Dec 17, 2021
https://cn.nytimes.com/asia-paci ... an-missiles-taiwan/

, which is translated from

Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno, Japanese Island Paradise Shudders amid Rising Tensions over Taiwan; Fears of military and economic jeopardy as China grows increasingly aggressive. New York Times, Dec 17, 2021, at page A10.

Note:
(a) Japanese names
(i) Hisako UENO  上乃 久子
(A) Ueno is almost always 上野. There is Ueno Park in 上野, a neighborhood in Taitō-ku, Tokyo 東京都台東区. (But recall both hiragana and katakana for the symbol "no" in 五十音 are simplified from kanji 乃.
(B) The "hisa" is Japanese pronunciation if kanji 久 (which means the same as in China: a long time).
(ii) The 垣 (whose pronunciation is kakim which is softened to ishigaki 石垣 for its location in the compound word) in 石垣 means a hedge, a fence, a wall.
(iii) "Chisako Masuo, an assistant professor at Kyushu University who specializes in Sino-Japanese relations"
(A) Chisako MASUO 益尾 知佐子 (PhD from University of Tokyo in 2008; currently associate professor 准教授 of Asian Studies, Graduate School of Social and Cultural Studies 大学院比較社会文化研究院, Kyushu University)
(B) In Japanese, assistant professor is 助教授.
(C) Kyushu University (public/national; founded in 1903; based in City of Fukuoka, Prefecture of Fukuoka 福岡県福岡市 (capital of the prefecture and the second largest port city in Japan after Yokohama 横浜市 -- capital of Prefecture of Kanagawa 神奈川県))
(D) The  Japanese verb masu (meaning: increase) is usually represented by kanji 増す, but occasionally 益す.
(iv) "Nobuo Nagahama, a local lawmaker who opposes the missile installation"  長浜 信夫 (石垣市議会野党: 社民党; for the term of 2018-2022, there are 33 seats 議席, of which four go to opposition parties)


(b) "Corey Wallace, an assistant professor at Kanagawa University in Yokohama who studies Japan’s foreign and security policy"

Kanagawa University  神奈川大学 (founded in 1928; private)
(c) Japan's "annual defense white paper, published in July, included a section on the island [Taiwan] for the first time"  2021年版の防衛白書
(i) Japanese-English dictionary:
* haku-sho 白書 【はくしょ】 (n): "white paper"  (The haku is Chinese pronunciation of kanji 白.)
(ii) Policy Papers and Policy Analysis. Stanford Law School (SLS), Stanford University, April 2015
https://www-cdn.law.stanford.edu ... g-Books-Memos-2.pdf
("A white paper is an authoritative report or guide that often addresses issues and how to solve
them. The term originated when government papers were coded by color to indicate distribution,
with white designated for public access. Thus, white papers are used in politics and business, as
well as in technical fields, to educate readers and help people make decisions")

(d) "Some Japanese policymakers fear that a conflict over Taiwan could provide China an opportunity to take the Senkakus [Senkaku 尖閣(諸島); where the s indicates there is more than one island]or even the southernmost Okinawan islands. Beijing currently makes no claims on the archipelago, but it has in the past, and the issue of its sovereignty has been raised by Chinese academics and in state-run media.  Early this month, former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told a security forum that 'a Taiwan emergency 有事 is a Japanese emergency,' and therefore an issue for the US-Japan alliance. But it is unclear what actions Japan could take under current law if conflict broke out over Taiwan. * * * China and Japan spent centuries jostling for control of the archipelago, once an independent kingdom. During World War II, the islands endured some of the Pacific theater's bloodiest infantry battles. Once US forces arrived, they never left: The main island, Okinawa, continues to host a large American military installation."

Japan identifies the archipelago as 沖縄県 on Ryūkyū Islands 琉球諸島 (pronunciation: Ryūkyū shotō; also known as the Nansei Islands 南西諸島) -- and its main island as 沖縄本島 (pronunciation: Okinawa hontō).

(e) "The island [Ishigaki] is home to Japan's largest Coast Guard office, which devotes significant resources to patrolling the Senkakus."
(i) Japan Coast Guard (JCG)  海上保安庁  (1948- ; not to be confused with 海上自衛隊)
(ii) 海上保安庁 第十一管区: (本部所在地) 沖縄県那覇市; (区域) 沖縄県(尖閣諸島含む).  ja.wikipedia.org for 海上保安庁.
(iii) Click "第十一管区" in (ii) and the new page for "ja.wikipedia.org for 第十一管区海上保安本部" says:
"海上保安庁の中で最大規模の管区であり、2015年（平成27年）度末時点の勢力は大型巡視船（PLHとPL型）19隻、定員1,722人。このうち尖閣領海警備専従部隊の定員は606人である。"
(A) my rough translation: (It is) the largest jurisdiction 管区 within 海上保安庁, with nineteen 大型巡視船 and prescribed number of personnel or regular personnel 1,722. Among them, 606 were specifically for 尖閣領海.
(B) PLH stands for "Patrol vessel Large with Helicopter," which in Japanese is ヘリコプター2機搭載型巡視船. (The ヘリコプタ is katakana for helicopter. Each patrol vessel of this latest design is equipped with two helicopters.) two
It is a Japanese thing. Indeed, all Japanese "Patrol vessel Large with Helicopter" have been numbered PLH-1 to (the latest) PLH-42 (in addition to  individual vessel name, that is). The next will be PLH-43.