Question: Why did the Japanese occupy the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group?

Documents:
source: Japanese occupation of Kiska
text: Japanese occupation of Kiska The Japanese occupation of Kiska took place between 6 June 1942 and 28 July 1943 during the Aleutian Islands Campaign of the American Theater and the Pacific Theater of World War II. The Japanese occupied Kiska and nearby Attu Island in order to protect the northern flank of the Japanese Empire.

source: Attu Island
text: Attu Island Attu (Aleut: "Atan" ) is the westernmost and largest island in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands of Alaska, and the westernmost point of land relative to Alaska, the United States, North America and the Americas. The island became uninhabited in 2010.

source: Lotus Island
text: Lotus Island Lotus Island is a 0.2-mile-long (320 m) island in the Aleutian Islands chain of the U.S. state of Alaska. Located at in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands, it is the least prominent of the two islands in Shemya Pass, which separates Nizki and Shemya islands. " Lotus" is also the name of an island in the Odyssey.

source: Kodiak Archipelago
text: Kodiak Archipelago The Kodiak Archipelago is an archipelago, or group of islands, south of the main land mass of the state of Alaska (United States), about 405 km by air south of Anchorage in the Gulf of Alaska. The largest island in the archipelago is Kodiak Island, the second largest island in the United States. The archipelago is about 285 km long and 108 km across, from the Barren Islands on the north to Chirikof Island and the Semidi Islands group on the south. The Archipelago contains 13,890 km2 of land. The Kodiak Archipelago contains about 40 small glaciers, numerous streams and many species of land and marine animals. Much of its land is forested.

source: Hammerhead Island
text: Hammerhead Island Hammerhead Island is an 800-foot-long (243 m) island in the Aleutian Islands of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is located at in the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands of the Aleutians. It has been described in the "Aleutian Coast Pilot" as "the most prominent" of two islands in Shemya Pass, which separates Nizki and Shemya islands.

source: Rat Islands
text: Rat Islands The Rat Islands (Aleut: "Qax̂um tanangis" ) are a volcanic group of islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska, between Buldir Island and the Near Islands group to its west, and Amchitka Pass and the Andreanof Islands group to its east, at about .

source: Alaid Island (Alaska)
text: Alaid Island (Alaska) Alaid Island (Igingiinax̂ in Aleut) is the westernmost of the Semichi Islands, a subgroup of the Near Islands group that lies at the extreme western end of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska.

source: Semichi Islands
text: Semichi Islands The Semichi Islands (Samiyan in Aleut) are a cluster of small islands in the Near Islands group of the Aleutian Islands, Alaska. They are located southeast of Attu Island and northeast of Agattu Island, near . Named islands in the group include Alaid Island, Hammerhead Island, Lotus Island, Nizki Island, and Shemya.

source: Nizki Island
text: Nizki Island Nizki Island (Avayax̂ in Aleut) is an uninhabited island in the Aleutian Islands in the U.S. state of Alaska. Located at , it is the middle island of the Semichi Islands group of the Near Islands. Flanked by Shemya to the east and Alaid to the west, three-mile-long (5 km) Nizki is periodically joined to Alaid by a sand spit. The name is said to derive from the Russian "nizkiy", meaning "low," a term descriptive of the island's topography, with a maximum elevation of 165 feet. Nizki's shoreline is very irregular and is fringed by numerous rocks, reefs, and kelp-marked shoals.

source: Chatham Island
text: Chatham Island Chatham Island is by far the largest island of the Chatham Islands group, in the south Pacific Ocean off the eastern coast of New Zealand. It is said to be "halfway between the equator and the pole, and right on the International Date Line", though the point (180°, 45°S) in fact lies ca. 173 miles WSW of the island's westernmost point. The island is called Rekohu ("misty skies") in Moriori, and Wharekauri in Maori.

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Answer: protect the northern flank of the Japanese Empire