TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The Japanese government on Thursday announced a plan to evacuate 120,000 people from Okinawa's southern islands in the event of an emergency.

The plan calls for the evacuation of 110,000 residents and around 10,000 tourists, per Sankei Shimbun. Residents will be relocated to 32 cities and towns across eight prefectures, including seven prefectures of Kyushu and Yamaguchi Prefecture on Honshu.

The islands that would be evacuated are Okinawa's closest to Taiwan. Sankei Shimbun reported that the plan appears to consider the possibility of China launching a military invasion of Taiwan.

The plan calls for transporting about 20,000 people daily using ships and aircraft to complete the evacuation within six days. Tokyo said field evacuation drills would be conducted in Okinawa in 2026.

Residents from five municipalities of the Sakishima Islands would be temporarily relocated to 32 cities and towns for about one month. The evacuees would move by private ferries or aircraft to Fukuoka Airport, Kagoshima Airport, or Kagoshima Port, and then proceed to their designated evacuation locations.

In selecting the evacuation destinations, consideration was given to access from the airport to evacuation sites and the number of accommodations available.  

Japan's Chief Cabinet Secretary Hayashi Yoshimasa on Thursday said the plan is intended to advance discussions on the evacuation of residents "under the assumption of a situation where armed attacks are predicted," per Kyodo News. Hayashi said that the effectiveness of efforts to prepare for such a large-scale evacuation has been “improved.”

The newspaper added that in the long-term policy guidelines of the National Security Strategy updated in 2022, Tokyo committed to developing a plan to ensure the “prompt evacuation of residents, including those in the southwest region, well in advance of an armed attack.”