Req spotting Japan Nagoya and Osaka area

[pacaya]

Hi all, I will be a couple of times in Japan next months and will have some time to spent in the Nagoya and Osaka area.
My interest is Mil spotting. Can anyone give me good info about the rules for photography near mill bases.
I saw that Gifu is an interesting base, but is it worth going there on a normal weekday.
Any recommandations are very welcome for alternative places to spot and means to get there.

Thanx in advance,

Eduard Weijmer

[Hans Rolink]

Hi all, I will be a couple of times in Japan next months and will have some time to spent in the Nagoya and Osaka area.
My interest is Mil spotting. Can anyone give me good info about the rules for photography near mill bases.
I saw that Gifu is an interesting base, but is it worth going there on a normal weekday.
Any recommandations are very welcome for alternative places to spot and means to get there.

Thanx in advance,

Eduard Weijmer

Hi Eduard,
the rules are basically what they are in our part of the world. As long as you don't do really crazy things you will be left alone. Photography is allowed, you will find many Japanese doing this, there is a thriving photographer community in Japan. Make sure you have photocopies of your passport with you to give to security people. They really value this.
Gifu is a great place to visit with many prototypes and pre series aircraft. Normal weekdays are the best, I think.
Alternative places to go would be Komaki near Nagoya which has transport in the shape of C-130's and Boeing 767 tankers as well as the presence of a Mitsubishi plant which attracts F-4's and F-15's apart from having the F-2 production line.
What is your radius of action in Japan? If it is big enough, you may consider Hamamatsu or Akeno.
See my own site for Japan images.

Hans.

[pacaya]

Hans thank you for the info, i will look at public tranport or renting a car. So depending on that my range vary.
I sure will take a look at your pictures. Is it worth going to the museam near Gifu?

Groetjes en bedankt Eduard

[P.Terlouw]

Hi Eduard,

I was on the 4Aviation trip last april and we visited Gifu two times and also Nagoya-Komaki. Both visits at Gifu were very interesting and they fly very regularly during weekdays. Not large numbers but a lot of variation. Nagoya-Komaki is a bit less eventfull but also the variation is interesting.

Near Gifu airbase you also have the museum which has a nice collection and the ones outside are very nice to be photographed.

You can see some impressions in this topic http://www.scramble.nl/forum/viewtopic.php?f=41&t=62567

If you need more info, just drop me a line.

greetings,
Peter Terlouw

[Hans Rolink]

Hans thank you for the info, i will look at public tranport or renting a car. So depending on that my range vary.
I sure will take a look at your pictures. Is it worth going to the museam near Gifu?

Groetjes en bedankt Eduard

Hi Eduard,
the museum near Gifu is certainly worth going to. If you rent a car, ask the rental company to explain the GPS to you and especially the phone number feature. The built in car GPS systems are programmed not with adresses but with phone numbers which will stay with a building whoever lives in it. This may come in handy finding hotels.

Hans.

[pacaya]

Peter, Hans thank you for the info. Helps a lot already for now a final question to you have tips for spotting positions outside Gifu and Komaki(Nagoya).
Is it possible to take photo's from aircraft on the aprons?

Thanks again groetjes Eduard

[CBR]

As far as I know its not possible to take pictures on the runway at Gifu only during landing/approach. Nagoya offers some nice possibilities. Check out Google Earth. Rgds. Carl.

[Stefan]

As far as I know its not possible to take pictures on the runway at Gifu only during landing/approach. Nagoya offers some nice possibilities. Check out Google Earth. Rgds. Carl.

Gifu: Both approaches are good for landing shots. There is one very small option for photography on the runway, but that is not a very good one.
Komaki: A nice one it to position yourself on the parking lot of a shopping mall (the former international terminal) on the south side of the runway for shots on the runway and some taxying a/c.

Regards,
Stefan