TOKYO, Dec. 17 (Xinhua) -- Japan's Defense Ministry on Tuesday said a Ground Self-Defense Force (GSDF) training area in Yamaguchi Prefecture in western Japan remains the only suitable site in the area for the deployment of a controversial U.S.-made missile system.
The Defense Ministry said that following a new survey conducted, the Mutsumi training area in Yamaguchi was the "only suitable place among state-owned lands to meet requirements" to host the Aegis Ashore land-based missile system.
The ministry's latest survey follows a previous one which was found to contain numerical errors, adding to a string of errors and gaffes related to the ministry's selection of two candidate sites to host the Aegis Ashore land-based missile system which has raised public concern and opposition.
The other candidate site selected by the ministry in a maelstrom of miscalculations and gaffes by the ministry is the GSDF's Araya Training Area in the northern prefecture of Akita.
As for the original survey which initially raised the prospect of the Mutsumi training area, which straddles Hagi and Abu in Yamaguchi Prefecture, being selected as a candidate site, the elevation of a hill near the site which could affect the system's radar was miscalculated.
The elevation was calculated using Google Earth virtual globe software, but the data did not correspond to data that had been provided by the government's own Geospatial Information Authority of Japan.
After the error was detected, the ministry recalculated the elevation using an airborne laser and subsequently found the maximum angle between the hill and the training site was suitable for the Aegis system to still detect missiles, and radio waves emitted by its radar would not be blocked by the hill.
On Tuesday, the latest survey results were reported to Yamaguchi Gov. Tsugumasa Muraoka as well as Abu Mayor Norihiko Hanada and Hagi Mayor Kenji Fujimichi by Japan's Senior Vice Defense Minister Tomohiro Yamamoto.
But Hanada maintained his opposition to the controversial plan to deploy the missile system in the region, stating that the training area is "too close to residential areas," adding that the missile system "puts the existence of the town in jeopardy."
"I would like you to abandon the plan to deploy it here," Hanada urged.
Fujimichi also stood staunchly opposed to the missile system's deployment, saying that local people still remained very concerned about the prospect.
"At this point, the fears and concerns of the local residents have not been alleviated," Fujimichi said.
Hanada also said that factoring into his concerns about the deployment of the system in Yamaguchi was the government reconsidering the deployment site for a second Aegis system in northern Japan's Akita Prefecture.
The surveys conducted at this site also contained multiple numerical mistakes, again based on flawed data gathered using Google Earth, which sparked concern and condemnation from local officials and the public.
The government has been researching 19 different locations, reviewing them "from scratch," their suitability to host the missile system, government sources said.
