Japan Airshows 2024

[Uni]

I'll update this list when I get the informations.
"BI" means Blue Impulse flight.

<FY2023, date confirmed>
03 Mar.2024 JASDF Komaki without BI.
*Less flights at JSDF bases from 20 Mar. to 4 Apr(FY-end and FY-start).

<FY2024, date confirmed>
24Mar.（wow !). JASDF Kumagaya, no R/W. 1-3 Helicopters will be displayed.
06 Apr.(Sat.) JGSDF Kasuminome, 0900-1400
06 Apr. BI fly-by at Beppu city, Oita pref..
20 Apr.(Sat.) NAF Atsugi, Spring festival. 1100-1830.
* Almost no flights at JSDF bases from 26 Apr. afternoon to 6 May ("Golden Week" in Japan).
27 Apr. USAF Kadena
https://www.kadenafss.com/americafest
28 Apr. JMSDF Kanoya with BI.

05 May. USMC/USN Iwakuni with BI.
18 May. USAF/JASDF Yokota
19 May. USAF/JASDF Yokota
19 May. JASDF Shizuhama with BI(Remote show from Hamamatsu).
19 May. JGSDF sub-Camp Takayubaru (Next to the Kumamoto Airport) airshow, 0900-1430
25 May. BI fly-by at Tsuruoka city, Yamagata pref..
26 May. JASDF Miho

01 Jun. JGSDF Kita-Utsunomiya, 0800-1400
01 Jun. JASDF Iruma, Runway-walk event. you can take photograph in the base.
01 Jun. JASDF Hofu-South
02 Jun. JASDF Hofu-North
08 Jun. BI fly-by at Sendai city, Miyagi pref..
29 Jun. BI fly-by at Kawasaki city, Kanagawa pref..(from Iruma air base)
30 Jun. JGSDF Okadama (beside Sapporo airport) 0830-1500

06 Jul. BI fly-by at Noshiro-port, Noshiro city, Akita pref..
21 Jul. BI fly-by at Miyatsu city, Kyoto pref..
21 Jul. JMSDF Tateyama, "Helicopter Festival in Tateyama 2024",1000-1500, With the last flt. show of JMSDF's UH-60J, and her retirement ceremony.
28 Jul. JMSDF Hachinohe Summer Festa (small open day, P-3C display only)

03 Aug. BI fly-by at Ishinomaki city, Miyagi pref..
* Almost no flights at JSDF bases from 09 Aug. afternoon to 18 Aug ("O-bon" period in Japan).
25 Aug. JASDF Matsushima with BI
31 Aug. BI fly-by at Ojiya city, Niigata pref..

08 Sep. JASDF Misawa, without BI.
15 Sep. JASDF Chitose with BI.
21 Sep. JASDF Akita, 0900-1500, U-125A and UH-60J (Static and Demo) only.
23 Sep. JASDF Komatsu with BI.
*Date Changed ! 29 Sep. JGSDF Tachikawa
29 Sep. JMSDF Ozuki

05 Oct. BI fly-by at Saga city, Saga pref..
05 Oct. JGSDF Kisarazu (*Date changed ! (my mistake))
05 Oct. MCAS Futenma Flight line Fair. Japanese and US passport only.
06 Oct. MCAS Futenma Flight line Fair. Japanese and US passport only.
06 Oct. JASDF Ashiya, no announce for B.I..
20 Oct. BI fly-by at Shimabara city, Nagasaki pref..
26 Oct. JMSDF Shimofusa
27 Oct. JASDF Hamamatsu with BI.

02 Nov. JMSDF Tokushima
03 Nov. JASDF Iruma with BI.
09 Nov. Military Review at JGSDF Asaka, 1040-1150, Not open to the public. Good at the Northern river side to see the formation flights.
10 Nov. JGSDF Akeno
17 Nov. JASDF Gifu without BI.
21 Nov. BI fly-by at Toyota city, Aichi pref..
24 Nov. JASDF Tsuiki

01 Dec. BI Fly-by at Mihama city, Wakayama pref..
01 Dec. JASDF Nyutabaru
08 Dec. JASDF Hyakuri
08 Dec. JASDF Naha
* Almost no flights at JSDF bases from 21Dec.to 06Jan (Year-end and Year-starts).

<FY2024, date NOT confirmed>
May. JMSDF Omura (maybe suspended this year, because of the SH-60Ks collision accident)
Jul. JMSDF Komatsushima (maybe suspended this year, because of the SH-60Ks collision accident)
Jul. JMSDF Ominato
Sep. JMSDF Maizuru
Jan.2025 JGSDF Narashino training area, "1st. Drop training of the year"(0830-1330, enter by 1200)
Mar.2025 JASDF Komaki

<No open days this year>
Confirmed: JMSDF Hachinohe (They only have small open day on 28 Jul. as "Summer Festa")

* Blue Impulse schedule 2024(Japanese only)
https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/pr_report/bl ... index.html

That's all today.
Uni

[Uni]

<General>
1. Usually, the JASDF release their open house schedule at around 20th March every year.
( They release only the date before July, but in these 2 years, they release almost all airshow schedules in early Apr. )

2. Usually, the JGSDF release their open house schedule at early March, because they open their camps at the season of the cherry blossoms(early April) to see.

3. Usually, the JMSDF release their open house schedule about 1-2 month before the event.

4. JASDF/JGSDF/JMSDF are "holiday" on Sat. and Sun. and the National holidays in Japan.
Date of the National holidays are changed every year, so please check them every year(or when you start to think your trip to Japan).
There are no activities except routine maritime patrol, exercise, emergency and /or some special missions.
There are some holidays continually from 29 Apr. to 5 May, so we Japanese call the period as "Golden Week".
There will be no flights In this period (and plus 1-2 days for Sat. and Sun.).
In 2024, it will be from 26 Apr. to 6 May..

5. There are also No activities on these days;
1) The day of the local school examinations.
2) The day of the Flying Safety in JASDF which is usually 1st. Jul..
3) The year-end and 1st week of the new year(usually, around 25 Dec to 6 Jan.)
In 2024-25, it will bee 21 Dec. to 6 Jan.
4) "O-bon" period, usually around 12 Aug. to 16 Aug.. In 2024, it will be 9 Aug. to 18 Aug..
5) The next day of the airshow or the open house day, except QRA and the transportation flight.

6. Japanese financial year starts on 1st.Apr. and end(close) 31 Mar. It is important !
There are quite less flight from the 3rd. week of March to the The 1st. week of April(around 15 March to 3-4 April).
Because the end of March marks the end of the financial year in Japan.
They used up their budget (including fuels) for the financial year, and maybe busy to write up /finish their paper-works.
They are also busy for the first few days of April, because new financial year starts 1 Apr. in Japan
This means a lot of "old" organization close on 31 Mar. and establish "new" organization on 1 Apr..
So there are a lot of personnel movements, and relative ceremonies at this season.
In 2024, it will be from 20 Mar. to 4 Apr..

7. Please check the NOTAM at this site before you visit to the airbase;
https://aisjapan.mlit.go.jp/Login.do
You'll be able to get the time schedule of the mass flight, para-drop, and aerobatic
flights etc., for the airshow training.

8. Step ladder regulations
Almost all the JASDF bases have made regulations for the step ladders at the airshow.
They are different from each airbases and changing year by year.
1) You CAN NOT bring it into the base : Iruma, Hamamatsu, Komatsu, Komaki, Hyakuri and Tsuiki.
2) You can bring it into the base, but prohibit to use during the airshow(especially B.I. show); Chitose.
3) You can bring it into the base, but requested minimum use; Other JASDF base, JMSDF air base and JGSDF air fields.

9. Weathers:
1) Usually around 10 Jun. to 20 Jul. are rainy season in Japan. (In Okinawa, late May to mid Jun. No rainy season in Hokkaido)
2) Usually around late Sep. to mid Oct., there are 2 weeks cloudy or rainy days except Okinawa and Hokkaido.
3) Some typhoons hit in mid Aug. to mid Sep.(sometimes it comes in early Oct.).

<JASDF>
1. General:
One fighter squadron usually has 3 training periods in one day from 0800am to 1700pm.
They start engines at about 0730, taxing to the R/W-end at about 0755, and T/O at just 0800.
They sometimes has "Night" training at the 4th period(1700pm or later).
The "Night" training schedule are often uploaded on their base-HP or local city hall's HP.
(But usually written in Japanese only.)

2. F-35A/Bs;
1) JASDF will purchase 147 F-35s in total(incl. 42 F-35Bs).(The Cabinet Decision on 18 Dec., 2018)
(Former plan was 42 F-35As).
2) 39-8740 made her F/F on 7 Dec.2023. and she changed her S/N to "4"9-8740 before her delivery.
3) A new F-35B sqn. called "Rinji F-35B hikotai (means temporary F-35B flight squadron)" will establish at Nyutabaru by FY2024-end(Mar. 2025) with 4-6 F-35Bs .
4) One F-15 sqn.(maybe 303 sqn.) at Komatsu will get 4 F-35As in FY2025(Apr.2025-Mar-2026), 8 F-35As in FY2026, and more 8 in FY2027.
One another F-15 sqn.(maybe 306 sqn.) will get 8 F-35As in FY2028.

3. Kawasaki C-1s.(Rev. 22Aug.2024);
1) Active: 001(FTB, Gifu), 002("Active" on paper, but no flights), 021(EC-1, Iruma), 030, 031.
2) The normal C-1s(402 sqn.) seems to retire by the end of FY2024 (by 31 Mar., 2025).
3) EC-1 will retire by the end of FY2024(by 31 Mar., 2025)

4. Active YS-11EA/EBs;
1) YS-11EA: 12-1162 and 12-1163.
They did not have flights in 2023. 1 or 2 YS-11EA(s) will retire "officially" by the end of FY2024.
2) YS-11EB: 82-1155, 02-1159 and 12-1161. 92-1157 had already scrapped.

<JMSDF>
1. Only one UH-60J(8979) remained at JMSDF Iwo-tou (Iwo Island or Iwo-jima), but she will retire in Dec, 2024.
They convert 5 SH-60Ks at least to the rescue-type for the temporary use.
8455, 8457 had delivered in FY2023 and one other(S/N unknown) is now at MHI and will deliver in FY2024).
2. U-36A (9205 and 9206) will retire by FY2024-end.(by 31 Mar.,2025)
3. US-2 (9901) made her last flight from Iwakuni to Kobe(Shinmeiwa factory) on 31Jul., 2024. Some parts are removed and will be used for new 9909.
4. There remained 10 SH-60Js at the end of FY2022 (31 Mar.2023).
A few SH-60Js were still flying at the starts of FY2024, at Ohmura(HS-22) and Atsugi(VX-51).
5. SH-60L finished its development on 22 Dec.2023.
There are only two(8501 and 8502) SH-60Ls by now but its production will start soon.

<JGSDF>
1. AH-1Ss and AH-64Ds are reducing and they will never use of attack helis any more.
2. OH-1 will be retired in near future.(by 2027)
3. CH-47J seems to be retired by 31 Mar.2024. There are about 3 CH-47Js remaining in JASDF.
4. 17 V-22s are now belong to camp Kisarazu, but they will move to camp Saga (Saga airport) in FY2025.
(only my own expectation: it will be prolonged to FY2026 or FY2027, because of the delay of camp-construction)

<US forces in Japan, General>
1. They fly depend on their schedules and holidays. So when it is Japanese holiday and no flights at JSDF bases, we can see their training flights.
But they will not fly on the American holidays and day after the Big American football game(s).

<USN in Japan>
1. The CVW-5 usually leave Japan for her six month cruise in mid May and return late November.
2. All the fixed wing Sqn. of the CVW-5 have switched their home base from Atsugi to Iwakuni by 30 Mar., 2018.
Only the helicopter Sqn. keep remaining to the Atsugi.(They will not move to Iwakuni)

<USMC in Japan>
1. Subaru(former Fuji Heavy Industry) started their maintenance service for MV-22s at Kisarazu (JGSDF Kisarazu) .

<USAF in Japan>
1. F-15C/Ds had gone (Some are still remains). Some fighters(F-16s or F-35As or F-15Es or F-22s) are often visit to Kadena for TDY.
2. Usually there comes less than 10 a/cs at USAF/JASDF Yokota in one day (There come 0-5 a/cs in the daytime).
Please check this site(Japanese only). http://kokuki-iroiro.cocolog-nifty.com/blog/

<Wrecks and Relics in Japan>
1. Check the spottingmode.com, I myself sometimes write updates there.
2. My blog (Japanese only, https://wrecks.hatenablog.com/) will give you some helps for your trip in Japan.

That's all today.
Uni

[andybinks]

Hi Uni-san,

Would you please tell me if there are any planned school exams on Monday 4 March 2024 at Iruma?

Thanks
Andy

[Uni]

Hi, I myself don’t know each school's exam. schedules.
But a lot of school have their "periodical examinations" around 1 Mar. to 7 Mar.
This year, 4 Mar. and 5 Mar. will be a bit risky for spotting, I think.
But you will be able to see some schedule flights by C-2 or C-130H.
And usually, there will be "night-training flight" on Monday, from around 1600pm.

Well, to say about GENERAL Japanese Junior High / High school schedule in year-round;
3-7 Apr. Entrance ceremony
late May. Periodical Exam (intermediate, usually 2-3 days).
around 10 Jul. Periodical Exam(Term-end, usually 2-3 days)
20 Jul. to 31 Aug. Summer vacation (Dates are changed by local weather)
Mid-late Oct. Periodical Exam (intermediate).
around 05 Dec. Periodical Exam(Term-end)
around 25 Dec. to 7 Jan. Winter Vacation (Dates are changed by local climate)
mid Feb. to 1st. week of Mar. Entrance Exam.
1-7 Mar. Periodical Exam(Term-end)
15-20 Mar. Graduate ceremony
around 20 Mar. to 3-7 Apr. Spring Vacation (Dates are changed by each climate)

That's all today.
Uni

[andybinks]

Thanks Uni for the helpful answer

Andy

[Stilwell]

The base at Komatsu have announced their AirFes show for Monday 23 September 2024:

https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/komatsu/airfes/index.html

https://www-mod-go-jp.translate.goog/as ... r_pto=wapp

Jonathan.

[Stilwell]

The base at Misawa have annouced their Air Festival for Sunday 8th September 2024. But no Blue Impulse.

https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/misawa/event ... irfes.html

https://www-mod-go-jp.translate.goog/as ... r_pto=wapp

Jonathan.

[Stilwell]

The JASDF Airshow page has recently changed slightly:

The Full List of shows is at:
https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/event/list.html
Blue Impulse Displays / Flypasts:
https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/event/cat-blue/
Non Blue Impulse:
https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/event/cat-kouku/
The three pages use the same header bar, with the three options arranged from left to right.
But at the time of writing, the "Non Blue Impulse" page hasn't been updated with any 2024 dates. As the Full List appears to be a combination of the other two pages, the Full List doesn't have any Non Blue Impulse 2024 dates either.

https://www-mod-go-jp.translate.goog/as ... r_pto=wapp

Jonathan.

[Stilwell]

The base at Tsuiki have announced their Air Festival for Sunday 24th November 2024:

https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/tsuiki/

https://www-mod-go-jp.translate.goog/as ... r_pto=wapp

Jonathan.