Japan's Navy Unveils De-Facto Aircraft Carrier

The 19,500-ton destroyer Izumo, measuring 248 meters long and 38 meters wide, allows five helicopters to take off and land simultaneously. It can also load MV-22 Osprey transport aircraft to be purchased by the Ground Self-Defense Force, Japan's Kyodo News reported. 

The Izumo was indigenously constructed at a shipyard in Yokohama, near Tokyo, at a cost of around $1.5 billion. It is named after the former Izumo province in western Honshu. In Japanese mythology, the entrance to yomi (hell) is located in Izumo.

The commissioning ceremony JS Izumo (DDH-183) — the first of two for the JMSDF — was held in Yokohama and attended by Defense Minister Gen Nakatani. "The vessel can serve in a wide range of roles including peace keeping operations, international disaster relief and aid," Gen Nakatani.

The Navy gets the vessel when Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s administration is preparing security legislation to expand the scope of Japan’s military activities. Observers say that this is the latest sign that Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is actively seeking to loosen the restraints on Japan's pacifist constitution and its build up in defence capabilities is unnerving neighbour China.

Based at Yokosuka naval base near Tokyo, also the home port of the US Seventh Fleets carrier battle group, the Izumo will join two smaller helicopters carriers already in service, that are also classed as destroyers.