TOKYO - Japan scrambled fighter jets for four straight days following Chinese reconnaissance aircraft flights off the country's southwestern islands in the East China Sea, the Japanese Defense Ministry's Joint Staff said Monday.
The Joint Staff said it detected Y-9 aircraft each day from Thursday through Sunday off the Danjo islands, west of Japan's southwestern main island of Kyushu, and off Okinawa's main island in the East China Sea.
According to the ministry, the aircraft came from the direction of mainland China and did not enter Japanese airspace.
In fiscal 2025, the Air Self-Defense Force scrambled fighter jets 595 times, with responses to Chinese aircraft making up the largest share at 366, or around 60 percent of the total.
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