Kenta Shiraiwa 
South Korean, US, and Japanese patrol vessels (top to bottom) sail in formation during their first joint training exercise off the coast of Maizuru, Kyoto, June 2024. (© Japan Coast Guard)
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The Japan Coast Guard (JCG) released its 2025 Annual Report on May 16, providing an overview of its activities over the past year. With China's increasingly assertive maritime expansion, the report highlights efforts to deepen multilateral and bilateral cooperation in support of a "free and open Indo-Pacific." Amid mounting disputes over maritime interests, it underscores the significance of "Japan's maritime law-enforcement activities."
The special feature at the beginning of the report is titled "Peaceful, Beautiful, and Prosperous Oceans." Surrounded by seas on all sides, Japan possesses approximately 4.47 million square kilometers of territorial waters and exclusive economic zones (EEZ). They are roughly 12 times the size of the country's land area.
When the JCG was founded in 1948, its primary function was to secure the "dark sea," then plagued by smuggling, stowaways, and drifting naval mines. However, in recent years, disputes over the development of marine resources have become frequent. "It has become increasingly difficult for a single coastal state to address these challenges alone," the report notes.
Shifting Missions
As maritime challenges grow globally, the report stresses the importance of cooperation among the world's coast guard agencies to safeguard sea lanes and uphold a maritime order rooted in the rule of law. It also emphasizes the Japan Coast Guard's first-ever participation in the Asia Security Summit held in Singapore in June 2024. In addition, it details the inaugural Japan-United States-South Korea joint training exercise conducted off the coast of Maizuru, Kyoto.
In its review of the past year, the report highlights the full-scale launch in October 2024 of the JCG's largest helicopter hangar and fuel storage facility on Nanatsujima Islets in Kagoshima City. This development, it notes, strengthened the JCG's security framework for the Senkakus (Ishigaki City, Okinawa Prefecture). The report states that the reinforcement of large patrol vessels and unmanned aerial vehicles will be "further promoted."
The report is scheduled for official publication on May 21 and will be available in bookstores for ¥1,540 ($10.65 ). It's also expected to be published on the JCG's official website around August.
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Author: Kenta Shiraiwa
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