Between April 2020 and February 2023 Japan’s Ministry of Defense (MoD) moved from having no stated procedure for unidentified anomalous phenomena to issuing clear standing orders to the Self Defense Forces on how to detect, record, and report encounters, then tightening rules for responding to unidentified balloons and other unmanned intruders after the global balloon incidents in early 2023.
The arc begins with then Defense Minister Taro Kono announcing that pilots should document UAP with photos and video and file immediate reports for analysis. It culminates with Defense Ministry statements that surveillance balloons identified in Japan’s airspace in 2019, 2020 and 2021 were strongly presumed to be Chinese, plus clarifications that, under Article 84 of the Self Defense Forces Law, weapons use is permissible against violating unmanned craft when necessary to protect air safety and the public.
The procedures remain pragmatic and security focused. They standardize evidence capture, stress analytical triage, and reinforce sovereignty and public safety law rather than making claims about nonhuman technology. (MoD Japan)
Timeline
April to September 2020: from “no encounters” to a formal protocol
On April 28, 2020, Defense Minister Taro Kono told reporters that Self Defense Forces pilots had never encountered UAP, but he would consider clear procedures following the release of U.S. Navy videos.
This is the first public marker that a policy was being drafted. (MoD Japan)
On September 8, 2020, Kono confirmed that procedures were being finalized and that U.S.–Japan coordination would be considered if UAP were detected. (MoD Japan)
On September 15, 2020, Kono announced he had issued ministerial instructions to the Self Defense Forces. The core steps were to ensure thorough reporting when any unidentified object is confirmed, to record the event with photos or other means where possible, and to conduct analysis.
He emphasized that the term refers to indistinguishable objects and not necessarily objects from space. This is the definitive protocol point for 2020. (MoD Japan)
Japanese and international media summarized the new standing orders the same week, highlighting that written and photographic records would be required and that public submissions could be used to support analysis. (The Japan Times)
February to March 2023: the balloon chapter and clarified response options
On February 14, 2023, the Defense Ministry announced that specific balloon like objects confirmed in Japanese airspace in November 2019, June 2020, and September 2021 were, after further analysis, strongly presumed to be Chinese unmanned reconnaissance balloons.
The ministry protested through diplomatic channels and warned that such incursions were unacceptable. (MoD Japan)
In press briefings on February 7 and 17, 2023, Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada’s ministry explained how Article 84 of the Self Defense Forces Law applies to balloons and other unmanned craft that violate Japan’s airspace.
The unified message was that fighters on airspace interception duty can use weapons as a necessary measure to defend sovereignty and protect the lives and property of people on the ground, with decisions calibrated to the specific situation. (MoD Japan)
The Defense of Japan 2023 white paper embeds those positions in official doctrine, stating that foreign balloons that enter without permission constitute airspace violations and that necessary measures, including weapons use, fall under Article 84 when conditions are met.
It also records the government’s public assessment of past balloons and the policy-line that monitoring and response will be strengthened. (MoD Japan)
Pragmatic UAP posture
First, make sure evidence capture and reporting are disciplined across the Self Defense Forces.
Second, after balloon incursions around the region, clarify that unmanned airspace violators may be warned and, if needed, neutralized under existing law to protect flight safety and the public. (MoD Japan)
The protocol
If an Self Defense Forces crew member observes a UAP, the 2020 standing orders require:
- Immediate reporting through command channels, not only during airspace interception duty but during other missions as well. (MoD Japan)
- Evidence capture through photos or video where possible, with an expectation that time, bearing, altitude, and other contextual data accompany imagery or pilot notes. (MoD Japan)
- Analytical follow up by the ministry, which may draw on information collected from the public and from allied sources. (The Diplomat)
If the unidentified object is or becomes a suspected unmanned intruder, the 2023 clarifications add:
- Legal classification under Self Defense Forces Law Article 84 if the object violates airspace. Fighters can take necessary measures, including weapons use, to ensure air safety and protect the population, based on situational judgment. (MoD Japan)
- State attribution and diplomacy when evidence supports it, as with the February 14, 2023 announcement on past Chinese balloons and the subsequent protest through diplomatic channels. (MoD Japan)
The entire approach is deliberately agnostic about extraordinary hypotheses.
It is a mission safety and sovereignty protocol that treats UAP as unknowns that must be documented, classified, and addressed using existing law. (MoD Japan)
Why this happened when it did
Japan’s move in 2020 mirrored a global shift toward formalizing UAP reporting, triggered by high profile U.S. Navy videos and growing drone and balloon activity in civil and military airspace.
Kono signaled early that the goal was disciplined in information management and risk reduction rather than metaphysics. The Defense Ministry’s presser language even stresses that the term refers to indistinguishable objects and not necessarily to objects from space.
The balloon incidents in early 2023 gave urgency to the second step, namely tightening rules for unmanned airspace violators, and the white paper codified the new baseline for monitoring and response. (MoD Japan)
How the protocol fits into Japan’s air defense picture
The UAP orders sit inside a much larger and heavily instrumented air policing system. The Joint Staff publishes regular scramble statistics, which show how often fighters intercept foreign aircraft that approach Japanese airspace.
For example, in fiscal 2020 there were 725 scrambles, down from the previous year. In fiscal 2021 the number rose to 1,004. The 2023 fiscal year report showed 669 scrambles. None of this is a UAP count, yet it shows the surveillance and response cadence against known contacts and explains why evidence driven triage for unknowns matters. (Janes)
Japan’s Space Operations Squadron and the country’s growing space domain awareness capabilities also frame the context. While these initiatives are about satellites and the orbital environment, the 2023 white paper notes that a stronger sensor ecosystem, on the ground and in space, improves detection and classification of aerial objects of all kinds. In short, better sensors mean fewer unknowns. (MoD Japan)
Known figures
Taro Kono
Defense Minister from September 2019 to September 2020. He initiated the 2020 instructions, told the press he did not personally believe in “craft from space,” and insisted that the point was to document indistinguishable objects and analyze them. He also discussed potential coordination with the United States as part of alliance consultations. (MoD Japan)
Yasukazu Hamada
Defense Minister during the 2023 balloon responses. Under his tenure the ministry spelled out how Article 84 applies to unmanned airspace violators, with necessary measures including weapons use to protect air safety and public safety when required. (MoD Japan)
The Defense Policy community behind the white paper
The Defense of Japan 2023 team integrated the ministry’s UAP relevant positions into a durable policy narrative that is accessible in English and Japanese. It is a touchstone for outside analysts. (MoD Japan)
Impact
Inside the Self Defense Forces
The 2020 instructions answered a simple operational question. What exactly should a pilot or shipboard watch officer do if they see something they cannot classify on first pass.
The answer is immediate reporting, methodical evidence capture, and an analytical handoff.
This is the same recipe that raised the quality of military aviation safety reporting globally in the last decade. Japan put it in writing for UAP. The effect is to reduce ambiguous anecdotes and increase time stamped, sensor backed records. (MoD Japan)
In the legal and diplomatic domain
The 2023 clarifications knit UAP practice to sovereignty law already on the books. The ministry’s statement that earlier balloon incursions were strongly presumed to be Chinese shows that Japan will attribute when it can, and will protest.
The Article 84 guidance gives commanders tools to mitigate risk to airways and people on the ground without inventing new authorities. (MoD Japan)
For the public and the press
The message coming from Kono’s 2020 briefings is that UAP are worth documenting carefully, not romanticizing. When public videos surface, standardized Self Defense Forces reporting and analysis speed up authoritative explanations and prevent misinformation from filling the gap. When confusion spikes after a balloon story, the white paper provides a clear reference for what counts as a violation and what Japan will do. (MoD Japan)
Controversies
Is Japan doing “UAP science” or only security triage
The protocol is focused on national defense and flight safety, not on broader scientific investigation of anomalous phenomena. Critics who want a research office will note that there is no ministry directive to run multi sensor UAP campaigns or publish catalogs of cases.
Supporters reply that the ministry’s mandate is to protect airspace and the population, and that the fastest way to reduce mystery is disciplined data capture and rapid matching to known categories like balloons and drones. The 2020 and 2023 documents read exactly that way. (MoD Japan)
Balloons versus everything else
Some commentators conflate all UAP with balloons after 2023. The ministry’s record does not do that.
It calls out specific balloon incidents and separates their legal treatment from the generic 2020 procedures for any indistinguishable object. This distinction matters when journalists or citizens try to decide where to send a report and what outcome to expect. (MoD Japan)
Alliance questions
Kono told reporters in 2020 that coordination with the United States would be considered. That created a round of speculative headlines about joint UAP work.
The policy documents themselves stay quiet on any formal UAP structure inside the alliance, and treat potential coordination as a practical matter of airspace safety and intelligence sharing rather than a new joint UAP office. (MoD Japan)
Implications
For operational practice
Japan’s approach brings UAP into the same disciplined reporting culture that governs other safety incidents. Requiring photo or video evidence and immediate reports allows the ministry to fuse pilot testimony with sensor data and with public submissions.
That is the only way to distinguish the rare unknown from the far more common balloon or drone. The 2023 legal clarifications also ensure that commanders know where the lines are when an unknown becomes a confirmed unmanned violator. (MoD Japan)
For policy and diplomacy
Japan has shown that it can acknowledge unknowns, attribute when evidence supports it, and escalate diplomatically without creating new institutions or laws. Analysts who want a national research office may still argue for one, but the current framework is internally consistent and aligned with alliance practice.
It gives the public clarity, lets pilots focus on procedure, and gives diplomats a documented basis for protest. (MoD Japan)
For researchers and civil society
Nothing in the protocol prevents independent research on unusual cases. If anything, more disciplined Self Defense Forces reporting increases the number of time stamped, geolocated events that can be cross matched with public sensor networks or air traffic data.
The high level lesson is that better cameras, better time synchronization, and faster public sharing reduce the pool of unexplained cases. (MoD Japan)
Frequently cited numbers in context
- Scrambles and pressure on the air defense system
• FY 2020: 725 scrambles, down year over year. (Janes)
• FY 2021: 1,004 scrambles, the second highest yearly total on record. (The Diplomat)
• FY 2023: 669 scrambles, according to the Joint Staff Office. (Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance)
These are not UAP encounters, but they help explain why a clean UAP protocol matters. When crews are already running hundreds of intercepts per year, the difference between rumor and a documented unknown has real cost in fuel, airframe hours, and risk.
How to interpret the language
The ministry’s Japanese phrasing uses “識別不能の物体,” literally “a not identified object.” This is conceptually identical to UAP as used in international discussions.
The choice of words is deliberate. It places the emphasis on identification and analysis rather than on speculative origin. Kono’s remark that UAP are indistinguishable objects rather than necessarily “objects from space” reinforces that the ministry sought to drain drama out of the subject and focus on procedure. (MoD Japan)
References
- Defense Minister press conference, April 28, 2020. Japanese Ministry of Defense. (MoD Japan)
- Defense Minister press conference, September 8, 2020. Japanese Ministry of Defense. (MoD Japan)
- Defense Minister press conference, September 15, 2020. Japanese Ministry of Defense. (MoD Japan)
- The Japan Times, “Japanese Defense Ministry unveils protocol for UAP.” Sep 14, 2020. (The Japan Times)
- The Diplomat, “Japan’s Defense Ministry Launches Protocol for UFO Sightings.” Sep 18, 2020. (The Diplomat)
- Defense Minister press conference, February 7, 2023. Japanese Ministry of Defense. (MoD Japan)
- Defense Minister press conference, February 17, 2023. Japanese Ministry of Defense. (MoD Japan)
- Ministry bulletin, February 14, 2023, “On specific balloon like objects previously confirmed in Japanese airspace.” (MoD Japan)
- Defense of Japan 2023 web chapter, “Measures against acts infringing sovereignty,” subsection on balloons. (MoD Japan)
- Defense of Japan 2023, full English edition. (MoD Japan)
- Reuters, “Japan clarifies weapons use rules for airspace violating unmanned craft,” Feb 15, 2023. (Reuters Japan)
- Joint Staff Office statistics on scrambles, FY 2020 and FY 2020 Q3. (MoD Japan)
- The Diplomat, “JASelf Defense Forces scrambled fighter jets 1,004 times in FY 2021,” Apr 15, 2022. (The Diplomat)
- USNI News via Missile Defense Advocacy, “Scrambles in FY 2023,” Apr 22, 2024. (Missile Defense Advocacy Alliance)
Claims Taxonomy
Verified
- On September 15, 2020 the Defense Minister issued standing orders to Self Defense Forces personnel to report, record by photo where possible, and analyze any indistinguishable aerial object. (MoD Japan)
- On February 14, 2023 the ministry announced that balloon like objects observed in 2019, 2020, and 2021 were strongly presumed to be Chinese unmanned reconnaissance balloons and lodged protests. (MoD Japan)
- The Defense of Japan 2023 white paper and ministry web chapter set out how foreign balloons constitute airspace violations and how Article 84 allows necessary measures, including weapons use, when conditions are met. (MoD Japan)
Probable
- Alliance coordination on UAP will mirror existing airspace safety and intelligence channels rather than produce a new, named bilateral office. Kono’s 2020 remarks referenced coordination, but no formal joint UAP structure has been published. (MoD Japan)
Disputed
- Claims that Japan created a dedicated UAP research office between 2020 and 2023 are unsupported by official documents. The record shows standardized reporting and legal clarifications, not a research institute. Media proposals after 2023 and 2024 are separate from this period. (MoD Japan)
Legend
- Assertions that Japan’s 2020 protocol was a covert admission of nonhuman craft are not borne out by the minister’s own words. The ministry explicitly framed the issue as indistinguishable objects and emphasized analysis and documentation. (MoD Japan)
Misidentification
- Several high profile “mystery” objects in the 2019 to 2021 period are now assessed by the ministry as surveillance balloons. The 2023 bulletin and white paper make that clear. (MoD Japan)
Speculation labels
Hypothesis
The fastest way to reduce the number of unclassified reports would be to publish a simple, bilingual checklist for citizens that mirrors Self Defense Forces evidence capture steps.
A time, bearing, elevation card and a one click upload path would speed correlation with radar and ADS B archives. This would not change the ministry’s mandate and would save analyst time.
Witness interpretation
Reports of slow moving constellations of lights at twilight in Japanese skies in 2020 and 2021 often map to high altitude balloons or aircraft formations seen off axis.
The 2020 and 2023 materials point investigators to the correct questions to ask first, which is the purpose of a protocol. (The Diplomat)
Researcher opinion
The 2023 white paper’s focus on space domain awareness suggests that cross linking ground radar, electro optical tracking, and stratospheric wind models could resolve most balloon-like track anomalies within hours.
Doing so in a public facing way would stabilize media narratives and reduce misinformation. (MoD Japan)
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