The governor of Japan's Kagoshima said Tuesday that he has agreed to the construction of a Self-Defense Forces base on an uninhabited island in the southwestern prefecture, as a plan to relocate U.S. military drills has been proceeding.

Koichi Shiota's acceptance of the project would pave the way for the relocation of the practice site of U.S. carrier-borne fighters from Iwoto Island in the Pacific, about 1,250 kilometers south of Tokyo, after runways are constructed on the 8-square-km Mage Island.

Koichi Shiota, the governor of Japan's southwestern prefecture of Kagoshima, speaks to reporters in Kagoshima on Nov. 29, 2022. (Kyodo)

"After careful consideration, I concluded that our prefecture has no choice but" to accept the plan regarding an SDF base on Mage Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, Shiota told a local assembly session.

Shiota said the "increasingly severe security environment" surrounding Japan is a reason behind his decision, apparently referring to China's maritime assertiveness in the East China Sea.

Defense Minister Yasukazu Hamada told a press conference in Tokyo, "I greatly appreciate (the governor's) understanding of the plan to build an SDF facility."

Chief Cabinet Secretary Hirokazu Matsuno said at a separate news conference that the envisioned drills on Mage Island will be "essential for the U.S. aircraft carriers' permanent activities in the Asia-Pacific region."

File photo taken on March 8, 2022, shows Mage Island in Kagoshima Prefecture, southwestern Japan. (Kyodo)

The U.S. military had conducted takeoff and landing practices at its Atsugi base near Tokyo, but the training site was moved to Iwoto Island temporarily due largely to noise complaints.

The fighters were all transferred from Atsugi to another U.S. military base in Iwakuni, western Japan, by 2018, making the flight to the training site longer. Iwoto Island is around 1,400 km from Iwakuni.

With Washington asking Tokyo to prepare a more convenient and permanent location for the drills, Mage Island, located about 400 km from Iwakuni, became a candidate site under a U.S. military realignment accord between Japan and the United States in 2011.