May 7th 2006, I arrived together with 5 friends at Fukuoka, Japan. The coming 23 days we would cover most of Japan, except Hokkaido, in a combined military and civil road trip. Off course we also did lots of sightseeing, tasted the culture, and did some karaoke.
The Tour
Our tour started in Fukuoka in the southeast region of Kyushu. First stop was nearby Tsuiki. Our next stop was Nyutabaru, well known for its F-15 Agressors (Hiko Kyodotai). Unfortunately no activities here, the F-15s were seen on the platform.
Our first naval base was Kanoya, at the most southern tip of Japan. We also visited the onsite museum. Next stop one of the highlights of the trip Iwakuni. What makes this place special is the US-1A Shin Meiwa flying boat.
Our next stop was Miho. Akeno, our first JGSDF airfield. The fence around this field is 1,5 meters high, so ideal to photograph the action. At Akeno there is also a Coast Guard station.
Next Gifu,with the Kakamigahara Aerospace Museum on the schedule.
Next up was the airshow at Utsonomiya. Great weather and all the JGSDF types ware present. Next some Phantom action at Misawa, the most northerly point we visited in Japan. The next day at Matsushima. Our luck, JSDAF demo team Blue Impulse (11 Hikotai) performed a training show with there T-4s.
Next one of the hightlights: Hyakuri. Here the rare RF-4 fleet of 501 Hikotai can be found. The weather was great and there was a lot of activity. Next stop Iruma.
Our trip was almost completed, and we were back in the vicinity of Tokyo. We visited Atsugi, US Air Base in Japan.
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