The Vigilant Isles 22 is a British-Japanese joint military exercise located within the Gunma Prefecture in Japan, at an unspecified base of the Japanese armed forces.
The background to Vigilant Isles 24 is a partnership that began in October 2018, when the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force started training with the Honourable Artillery Company, as well as the May 2022 visit of Japanese Prime Minister, Fumio Kishida to the United Kingdom.
The objective they said was to advance the ability of the Japan Self-Defense Force, and was inaugurated on the 120th anniversary of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance.
[2] In an article published by the Financial Times, which speculated on the purpose of this military exercise, although it acknowledged that there was no explicit reason offered, it is speculated that this is due to the ongoing state of China-Taiwan relations, especially the possibility that war could erupt between the two countries.
Vigilant Isles 22 alongside an earlier 2018 exercise are both understood to have been part of the warm-up to this agreement, which is widely understood to serve a role in combating China´s domination of the South China Seas because similar agreements have also been made by the Australian Defense Forces with the Japanese.