is a military aerodrome of 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 ...

. It is located north northwest of

Kisarazu is a city located in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 136,023 in 63,431 households and a population density of 980 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Kisarazu is located in the midwest ...

in the

Chiba Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Kantō region of Honshu. Chiba Prefecture has a population of 6,278,060 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Chiba Prefecture borders Ibaraki Prefecture to the north, Saitama Prefecture to the ...

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

Operations

JGSDF Kisarazu is home to the JGSDF 1st Helicopter Brigade, which is attached to the

Central Readiness Force The was established on March 28, 2007, following the upgrading of the Japanese Defense Ministry from the former Japanese Defense Agency. It was initially based at Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) Camp Asaka in Nerima, Tokyo. The command su ...

.
/ref> operating as a supporting unit for the 1st Airborne Brigade (Japan), 1st Airborne Brigade and the Japanese Special Forces Group. The base also supports tenant units from the

Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force , abbreviated , also simply known as the Japanese Navy, is the maritime warfare branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, tasked with the naval defense of Japan. The JMSDF was formed following the dissolution of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...

and

Japan Air Self-Defence Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfare. ...

History

Establishment and World War II

Kisarazu Air Field was originally established in 1936 as a base for the

Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service The was the Naval aviation, air arm of the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN). The organization was responsible for the operation of naval aircraft and the conduct of aerial warfare in the Pacific War. The Japanese military acquired their first air ...

, subordinate to the

Yokosuka Naval District was the first of four main administrative districts of the pre-war Imperial Japanese Navy. Its territory included Tokyo Bay and the Pacific coasts of central and northern Honshū from the Kii Peninsula to Shimokita Peninsula. Its headquarters, a ...

. It was home to the

Kisarazu Air Group was an aircraft and airbase garrison unit of the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service during the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific campaign of World War II. History The Kisarazu Air Group was formed at Kisarazu Air Field, in Kisarazu, Ch ...

, the

Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...

's first dedicated land-based bomber unit, which saw extensive combat during the

Second Sino-Japanese War The Second Sino-Japanese War (1937–1945) or War of Resistance (Chinese term) was a military conflict that was primarily waged between the Republic of China and the Empire of Japan. The war made up the Chinese theater of the wider Pacific Th ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. The base was also used for training, and the testing of experimental aircraft, including Japan's first jet-powered aircraft, the

Nakajima Kikka The was Japan's first jet aircraft. It was developed late in World War II and the first prototype had only flown once before the end of the conflict. It was also called . Design and development After the Japanese military attaché in Germany w ...

Postwar period

After the end of World War II, from September 1945 the base was used by the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

as "Kisarazu Air Base". In 1956, the base was officially transferred to the control of the

Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space operations, cyberwarfare and electronic warfa ...

(JASDF) and was used as a training base; although USAF units remained on the base in a tenant capacity until transferred to

Tachikawa Air Base is an airfield in the city of Tachikawa, the western part of Tokyo, Japan. Currently under the administration of the Ministry of Defense, it has also served as the civil aviation with Japan's first scheduled air service. History Origins Tach ...

in 1961. Subsequently, American assets at Kisarazu came under the control of the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

. In 1968, the JASDF relocated to

Iruma Air Base is a Japan Air Self-Defense Force The , , also informally referred to as the Japanese Air Force, is the air and space branch of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, responsible for the defense of Japanese airspace, other air and space oper ...

, and Kisarazu was transferred to the control of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force. Remaining United States Navy assets were transferred to

United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka or is a United States Navy base in Yokosuka, Japan. Its mission is to maintain and operate base facilities for the logistic, recreational, administrative support and service of the U.S. Naval Forces Japan, Seventh Fleet and other operating f ...

from 1975, and there is currently no American presence at Kisarazu; however, under the terms of the

Treaty of Mutual Cooperation and Security between the United States and Japan The , more commonly known as the U.S.-Japan Security Treaty in English and as the or just in Japanese, is a treaty that permits the presence of U.S. military bases on Japanese soil, and commits the two nations to defend each other if one or th ...

, Kisarazu Air Field remains available for use by aircraft of the

United States 7th Fleet The Seventh Fleet is a numbered fleet of the United States Navy. It is headquartered at U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka, in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. It is part of the United States Pacific Fleet. At present, it is the largest of t ...

under the name "Kisarazu Auxiliary Landing Field".

Osprey maintenance hub

In 2014 the Japanese government publicly offered the base as a site for a maintenance hub for maintenance of

V-22 Osprey The Bell Boeing V-22 Osprey is an American multi-mission, tiltrotor military aircraft with both vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) and short takeoff and landing (STOL) capabilities. It is designed to combine the functionality of a convention ...

tiltrotor aircraft operated by 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 ...

from

MCAS Futenma is a United States Marine Corps base located in Ginowan, Okinawa, Japan, northeast of Naha, on the island of Okinawa. It is home to approximately 3,000 Marines of the 1st Marine Aircraft Wing and other units, and has been a U.S. military ai ...

Okinawa is a prefecture of Japan. Okinawa Prefecture is the southernmost and westernmost prefecture of Japan, has a population of 1,457,162 (as of 2 February 2020) and a geographic area of 2,281 km2 (880 sq mi). Naha is the capital and largest city ...

. The aircraft require maintenance every six years but the Futenma base lacks the facilities to do it. The JGSDF will also be acquiring Ospreys which will be maintained at the facility.

Fuji Heavy Industries is a Japanese multinational corporation and conglomerate primarily involved in both terrestrial and aerospace transportation manufacturing. It is best known for its line of Subaru automobiles. Founded in 1953, the company was formerly named ( ...

(FHI) will conduct the maintenance. FHI engineers had their first chance to see Ospreys at

Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a joint Japan-US naval air base located in the cities of Yamato and Ayase in Kanagawa, Japan. It is the largest United States Navy (USN) air base in the Pacific Ocean and once housed the squadrons of Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5), which dep ...

in April 2016. Noise level tests were conducted at Kisarazu in October 2016, comparing the Osprey noise to that of a

CH-47 Chinook The Boeing CH-47 Chinook is a tandem rotor helicopter developed by American rotorcraft company Piasecki Helicopter, Vertol and manufactured by Boeing Rotorcraft Systems#Background, Boeing Vertol. The Chinook is a heavy-lift helicopter that is a ...

. There was some opposition from local residents. Maintenance of the aircraft was to begin from 2017. An opening ceremony was held on January 12, 2017.MV-22 Osprey Depot-Level Repair Facility Opens in Japan January 13,2017
''navy.mil'' Retrieved February 5, 2017

References

{{authority control Japanese airbases Japan Ground Self-Defense Force bases Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service