On July 30, Japan announced that it will deploy one Aegis Ashore missile defense system over the course of six years, as opposed to the previously planned five. The Japan Times reported, “The government is considering two Ground Self-Defense Force training areas — in Akita and Yamaguchi prefectures — as candidate sites to install the system. It had sought to complete the first deployment in fiscal [year] 2023.” In December 2017, the Japanese government authorized its Defense Ministry to purchase the systems, after it met with the United States the previous August.