Japan Air Self-Defence Force Open Day 2019
Have you ever wanted to get up close to some of Japan’s modern military aircraft? Imagine standing just meters away as jets roared to life. Then minutes later they perform jaw-dropping passes overhead. That was the scene at the Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 2019 Open Day at Iruma Base. With my camera in hand, I navigated my way through massive crowds. The event was an aviation photographer’s dream!
When the gates opened, everyone made a beeline for the big three: an F-4 Phantom II, a Mitsubishi F-2, and an F-15. They are the best warplanes in the JASDF inventory. I wanted to see them too so I joined the line.
Of course, it was hard to get good photos with crowds swarming around the planes. Over 200,000 people attended the event. So it was a patience game of waiting for a space to open. Once one did, I moved quickly.
After I finished photographing the aircraft on the ground, it was time to enjoy those in the sky. There were high-speed passes by jets. A Chinook did a water drop. Kawasaki T-4s buzzed the crowd, and there were paratroop drops. It was exciting!
On the tarmac, jets were only five hundred meters from where I was standing. When they started up, the noise was incredible. I had never heard jet engines close up before. No one seemed to mind, though. It was a part of the fun.
And there were displays in the hangars. There were parachutes, aircraft engines, and other equipment the JASDF used. If you had time, you could line up with hundreds of people to sit in the cockpit of a Kawasaki T-4 jet trainer. It was fun stuff, especially for kids.
One thing surprised me at this event, but it wasn’t aircraft-related at all. It was the number of cameras! There were so many. And most of them had enormous lenses. My 55-200 mm lens looked small against everything else. So many people in the crowd had lenses well over 200 mm!
The Japan Air Self-Defence Force Open Day 2019 was an entertaining event to watch. The only complaint I had was extremely poor crowd management. That was compounded by a lack of path marking. There was a need for more staff to direct the flow of people when leaving. Hopefully, next year’s event will see this improved. Other than that, the show was brilliant! I can’t wait to go to the next one.
Japan Air Self-Defence Force aircraft displayed
- Boeing CH-47 Chinook
- British Aerospace 125
- F-4EJ Phantom
- F-15 Kai
- Kawasaki C-1
- Kawasaki C-2
- Kawasaki T-4 jet trainer
- Lockheed C-130 Hercules
- Mitsubishi F-2
- NAMC YS-11
- Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk
What was my photo gear?
Camera Body: Fujifilm X-T2
Lenses:
- Fufjilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
- Fujifilm XF 55-200 mm f/3.5-4.8 R LM OIS
Rohan Gillett
Rohan has lived in Tokyo for 30+ years. He loves photography and plans to capture the entire city.
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External related websites:
- Iruma Airbase (Official Website)
If you have any questions or comments, leave them below. I will do my best to answer you.