Japan may further damage already frayed relations with China if it moves the Self-Defense Forces closer to a group of islets claimed by both nations, says Jeff Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University's Tokyo campus.

The Defense Ministry is reportedly looking to deploy as many as 100 service members to Yonaguni Island. On Sunday, the Nikkei financial newspaper reported that the deployment could take place in April 2014.

That would put troops within 330 km of where a Chinese trawler collided with Japan Coast Guard boats in September, near the Senkaku Islands, which are under Japan's control but claimed by China.