Kunisaki is a Ōsumi class LST

Osumi class LST

The Ōsumi class LST , is a Japanese amphibious transport dock. While the JMSDF describes the Ōsumi class as tank landing ships, they lack the bow doors and beaching capability traditionally associated with LSTs...

 of the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force

The , or JMSDF, is the naval branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. It was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy after World War II....

 (JMSDF).

The ship was built by Hitachi, Maizuru and commissioned into service on 26 February 2003.

Service

In June 2010, sailors from the Kunisaki helped to paint Ohtres Chas Primary School in Sihanoukville, Cambodia during a "Pacific Partnership 2010" community service event.

This ship was one of several in the JMSDF fleet participating in disaster relief after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami

The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...

.