is the major training grounds for the

Japan Ground Self-Defense Force The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force ( ja, 陸上自衛隊, Rikujō Jieitai), , also referred to as the Japanese Army, is the land warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces. Created on July 1, 1954, it is the largest of the three service b ...

Honshū , historically called , is the largest and most populous island of Japan. It is located south of Hokkaidō across the Tsugaru Strait, north of Shikoku across the Inland Sea, and northeast of Kyūshū across the Kanmon Straits. The island separa ...

, Japan. It is one of several military facilities located in the foothills of

Mount Fuji , or Fugaku, located on the island of Honshū, is the highest mountain in Japan, with a summit elevation of . It is the second-highest volcano located on an island in Asia (after Mount Kerinci on the island of Sumatra), and seventh-highest p ...

and extends over parts of

Gotemba is a city on the southeastern flank of Mount Fuji in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,370 in 36,096 households, and a population density of 450 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Geography ...

Susono 270px, Susono with Mount Fuji is a city located in eastern Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 51,216 in 21,858 households, and a population density of 370 persons per km². The total area of the city is . Mot ...

and Oyama, in

Shizuoka Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshu. Shizuoka Prefecture has a population of 3,637,998 and has a geographic area of . Shizuoka Prefecture borders Kanagawa Prefecture to the east, Yamanashi Prefecture to the northea ...

. Its total area is 88.09 square kilometers.

History

The area around the base of

has been associated with the military since medieval times. The

samurai were the hereditary military nobility and officer caste of medieval and early-modern Japan from the late 12th century until their abolition in 1876. They were the well-paid retainers of the '' daimyo'' (the great feudal landholders). They h ...

of the

Kamakura Shogunate The was the feudal military government of Japan during the Kamakura period from 1185 to 1333. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Kamakura-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 459. The Kamakura shogunate was established by Minamoto no Y ...

conducted military training in this area in the 13th century. In the modern era, the

Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emperor o ...

began using the sparsely populated area as a training ground since 1898. The "Fuji-Susono Maneuver Area" was formally established in 1912. To support training activities, a number of

military base A military base is a facility directly owned and operated by or for the military or one of its branches that shelters military equipment and personnel, and facilitates training and operations. A military base always provides accommodations for ...

s were established in the vicinity, including Camp Takigahara (1908), Camp Itazuma (1909), and Camp Komakado (1936). After the

surrender of Japan The surrender of the Empire of Japan in World War II was announced by Emperor Hirohito on 15 August and formally signed on 2 September 1945, bringing the war's hostilities to a close. By the end of July 1945, the Imperial Japanese Navy ...

at the end of World War II, these bases were occupied by the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

, and continued to be used for training. In 1951, the area was formally returned to the control of the Japanese government, but continued to be used exclusively by the

American military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

under the status of forces agreement. The post-war Japanese Ground Japan Self-Defense Force lacked suitable training facilities, but was only granted access to the East Fuji Maneuver Area in 1959 after four years of legal action over the opposition of local landholders and reluctance by the American military. On July 31, 1966, the East Fuji Maneuver Area and its surrounding bases (with the exception of

Camp Fuji Combined Arms Training Center (CATC) Camp Fuji is an installation of the United States Marine Corps next to the Japan Ground Self Defense Force JGSDF Camp Takigahara ( ja, 滝ヶ原駐屯地). It is located near the city of Gotemba in Shizuoka ...

of the

United States Marine Corps The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through combi ...

, whom share the training area) were formally returned to the control of the Japanese government and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

Annual event

The East Fuji Maneuver Grounds is the location for the annual {{nihongo, Fuji Live Firing Exercises, 富士総合火力演習, Fuji Sōgō Karyoku Enshū, which occurs throughout the month of August. On public days, the event is attended by the

Minister of Defense A defence minister or minister of defence is a cabinet official position in charge of a ministry of defense, which regulates the armed forces in sovereign states. The role of a defence minister varies considerably from country to country; in som ...

and

military attaché A military attaché is a military expert who is attached to a diplomatic mission, often an embassy. This type of attaché post is normally filled by a high-ranking military officer, who retains a commission while serving with an embassy. Opport ...

s from various foreign nations. East Fuji East Fuji Military installations established in 1908 1908 establishments in Japan Gotemba, Shizuoka Susono, Shizuoka Oyama, Shizuoka