Japan IV 2014
On Friday 24 October a large group of aviation photographers gathered at Schiphol for our tour to Japan. In this case even 2 of the 3 tours that headed out to Japan at the same time.
On Friday 24 October a large group of aviation photographers gathered at Schiphol for our tour to Japan. In this case even 2 of the 3 tours that headed out to Japan at the same time. Some of the participants had to fly in from other places in Europe, and that succeeded for almost everyone. One participant missed his connection and had to fly directly to Tokyo to meet us. A smooth flight and many hours later we were at Tokyo IAP, it was Saturday 25 October by now. The vans were already waiting at us the rental company and after some formalities we were on our way. Our first stop: the stepladder specialist! A small stepladder is an absolute requirement for taking pictures in Japan (due to the high fences). Because we had a large group, we had pre-ordered the stepladders at the Homac. On our way there, we saw two Chinooks flying (apparently from Hyakuri), so we wasted no time to get there. Meanwhile, the third group had arrived in Tokyo and was on his way to Hyakuri as well. Eventually we ended up at the fence of Hyakuri with 31 4Aviation travellers on that Saturday afternoon. We were able to capture some arrivals for the static display that was in place for the military review. At the end of the day the 6 cars of the 3 groups headed for the same hotel to spend the night, meeting the last member that had arrived from Europe directly.
A visit to Hyakuri was scheduled for Sunday 26 October. Today the military review was to take place. This military review is held every year, rotating between the air force, the army and the navy. Once every three years it is the air force’s turn and this happens at Hyakuri. Apart from a static display there is also a fly-past of almost all types of the various armed services. This year the 60th anniversary of the Japanese Air Self Defence Force would be commemorated as well. Around the base a lot of Police was present and not all areas were accessible (due to a number of dignitaries visiting the review). We all ended up at a spot in the approach and saw a number of T-4s, transport aircraft and choppers come in in the morning. In the afternoon the fly-past took place. Part of the dozens of choppers, fighters and transport aircraft that took part could be photographed relatively well. After that a display followed by some Eagles, RF-4s and Blue Impulse. The ‘show’ ended with a formation of T-4 representing the number 60. After that some more aircraft landed. We relocated to the other side of the runway for even more activity (Phantoms returned and the larger part of the static display participants departed that afternoon). All in all an interesting day with lots of activity. All three groups would spend the night in the same hotel again, on the other side of Tokyo. The drive towards to the hotel took a long time. It was very busy around Tokyo on Sunday evening. Eventually we all ended up eating dinner at a highway restaurant and all ended up at the hotel late in the evening for a well-deserved night’s sleep.
Monday morning (27 October) had an early start for two teams as we had quite a bit of motorway to cover to get to our first goal of the day: Shizuhama and the T-7s of the 11th Hiko Kyoikudan . After exiting the Tomei expressway and while looking for a gas station, we saw a T-34 and an F-104 on a roof, which obviously required closer inspection. As it turned out, these birds are at the Hasegawa model factory and on loan from the JASDF museum. The big boss arrived at the same time and invited us to have a close up look of the 104. After a few snapshots and a group picture we thanked him for his generous hospitality and we continued on to Shizuhama. The 11th Hiko KyoikudanT-7s were quite active and although the weather was overcast with a blustery wind, a number of nice shots were scored from both based Hikotais. Creative people even logged some shots with Mount Fuji in the background. Around noon it was time to move on to the 2nd training base we wanted to visit this day: Hamamatsu. The based T-4s of the 1st Air Wing had a bureau day, so no local T-4s were seen. Perhaps to compensate, a few visitors departed or came in including 2 T-4s of 301 Hikotai. The two teams, ‘short’ and ‘normal’, said goodbye to each other at Hamamatsu.
We had quite a drive ahead of us on Tuesday morning 28 October, so it was an early rise again. Around noon we arrived at MCAS Iwakuni. Pretty soon it was clear that there was a lot going on at the base. No less than three flying boats, Hornets, Harriers, Orions and many other rare types could be seen. Unfortunately the ‘wrong’ end was in use but aircraft that kept low during their take-off could be photographed very nice. The nice weather was a bonus in itself; lots of sun and blue skies. Highlights were a 3-ship Orion formation and a US-2 doing approaches on the water. After an introduction in night photography by one of our participants we left for our next hotel that was nearby.
On Wednesday (29 October) we started out on Hofu, one of the training bases of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. A lot of T-7s are based here and when we arrived the first T-7s were starting up already. After watching and photographing a number of touch-and-goes we drove to Ozuki. A training base as well, but of the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force. A unique base, as it is the only one with a unit of T-5s based! We were perfectly in time to photograph the aircraft that came back right before lunch. Another new type! Because we had some time to spare, and the weather was excellent, we decided to drive to Tsuiki. This base, home to unit with F-2s and a unit with F-15s, has a very characteristic position of the taxiway (on a quay) which results in recognizable pictures. Our choice to come here turned out to be a good one, there was a lot of activity and the weather was very nice. Both the F-15s as the F-2s, and of course the T-4s, showed off today resulting in happy faces and full memory cards! At the end of the day more clouds set in but photography was still nice. A happy bunch drove to our hotel in Myazaki at the end of the day.
For many photographers, Nyutabaru is an important air base. Not without reason as this base normally has lots of activity and many, many good spots for photography. This Thursday 30 October was no exception; around 07:00 we were at the fence and the first aircraft were already taxiing towards us to be captured by a bunch of cameras. As a bonus, twelve “ZZ” Eagles from Kadena were at the base flying missions too. We spent the whole day at this base, af the different spots. All based aircraft could be photographed as well as some visitors, including two TH135s from Kanoya. Some of the Eagles from Kadena were homebound today so we were very lucky to be able to take photos of them. Around 17.00 the flying activities stopped and we headed towards our next hotel after a very successful day.
Friday 31 October. You can’t win ‘m all! Today was not our lucky day. As with the other two groups, we found empty platforms at Tsuiki. The same happened at Ashiya so we decided to go to Iwakuni so we could at least capture some Navy aircraft. Although less activity than a few days before, we still could photograph some aircraft.
The Saturday (1 November) was used to pay a visit to the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima. No matter how many times you have been here, it is very impressive to see what happened to this city. For the rest of the day everybody enjoyed the relative ‘ease’, after a number of rather intensive days.
On Sunday 2 November we drove the last part back to Tokyo and made a short pit-stop at Nagoya-Komaki to visit the museum and see the aircraft that were outside. In the evening we hooked up again with the ’fighter tour’ group near Iruma.
The immensely crowded open day at Iruma was the goal for the two groups on Monday 3 November. Therefore, 4 cars with pretty cool 4Aviation magnetic plates, started to drive very early on Monday morning. We parked at a train station near Iruma. By parking there and taking the train towards the gate a lot of parking stress was prevented. We had to wait a while before the gates opened. The weather was great again and after some time we were able to walk onto the base. It some became busy, very busy. Still, with some effort, it was possible to get decent shots on the ground, especially from the based aircraft. The air show itself was small but of high quality. A formation of five C-1s is unique! The display of Blue Impulse was interesting as well, also because they show some manoeuvres that we do not see in the West. The show itself ended rather early, after which a large number of people left already. We stayed on base until the major part of the static display participants took off and this resulted in some very nice pictures! At the agreed time everybody was back at the entrance and the two groups said goodbye to each other.
Despite the Carrier Air Wing not being home on Tuesday 4 November, Atsugi is still a great place to visit. The test wing of the Japanese Navy has some very rare types in their inventory, making photography a joy. Today was a special day as Mount Fuji was clearly visible from the base, a unique experience. The Japanese did not let us down and a lot of activity was planned for today, including P-1s, Orions and many other types (such as UC-90, TC-90 and Hercules). The P-1s are being delivered in a steady pace now which also means that part of the Orion fleet will be withdrawn. When flying activity ended we drove back South for a while again, for our visit to Akeno on Wednesday.
The Army guys at Akeno like early starts, so it was an early rise again on Wednesday 5 November. This day proved no exception and by 07.00 the first of many helicopters were put outside already. Besides CH-47s, OH-6s, UH-1s and Cobras we were surprised by one of the prototypes of the OH-1 hovering by. Akeno is a typical Japanese base with lots of activity and very good photography opportunities. You are so close to the activity that it feels like a base visit. Although several TH-480s helicopters (the new training toy of the Army) were outside, none flew. One more reason to come back in the future! Around noon we drove to Gifu, the test base of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force. Besides a nice museum, this base has a lot of different types in the inventory. Today we were treated with a C-2, T-4s, F-15, T-7 and F-2. Because we had quite some driving to do, we left at the end of the afternoon for our hotel near Komatsu. The day was ended in a typical Japanese grill restaurant.
Thursday 6 November did not have the best of weather. What started out as beautiful low hanging clouds around the mountains quickly changed into one grey dull overcast. During the first missions of the F-15s at Komatsu photography from the terminal was rather nice, but after the rain started to be more persistent we decided to leave the base. Luckily we left with some pictures of the Eagles and a museum visit under our belt so we were not totally disappointed. We had a very, very long drive to the other side of the country ahead of us since we want to visit Hyakuri on Friday. We arrived at our hotel tired and late in the evening. But, the thoughts of Japanese Phantoms ahead kept spirit high!
We were to be found early at the fence of Hyakuri that Friday 7 November. The unique (photography) towers along the taxiway can only be visited with prior permission and exactly on time the female owner greeted us at the gate. After the administration was done we were allowed in and already saw the first Eagles and Phantoms on the ramp. Luckily, RF-4s were present as well and looked like getting ready to fly. And fly they did! All units flew throughout the entire day in beautiful weather, causing the memory cards to work overtime! Hyakuri has many good spots for photography, so when the sun was over the runway we positioned ourselves on the other side of the runway. When the light was gone at the end of the day, we left tired but happy to our hotel near the airport of Tokyo.
After an evening of relaxing and catching up, the group left homebound by KLM on Saturday morning 8 November. Another successful trip with many highlights and new types. See you next time Japan!
