is a military aerodrome 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 ...

located in

Higashimatsushima is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 39,580 in 16102 households, and a population density of 390 persons per km2. The total area of the city is . Geography Higashi-Matsushima (lit. "East Mats ...

, west of

Ishinomaki is a city located in Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. , the city has an estimated population of 138,538, and a population density of 250 persons per km2 in 61,919 households. The total area of the city is . Geography Ishinomaki is in northeastern Miya ...

in the

Miyagi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Tōhoku region of Honshu. Miyagi Prefecture has a population of 2,305,596 (1 June 2019) and has a geographic area of . Miyagi Prefecture borders Iwate Prefecture to the north, Akita Prefecture to the nort ...

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 ...

. Headquarters for the

4th Air Wing (JASDF) The 4th Air Wing () is a wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It comes under the authority of Air Training Command. It is based at Matsushima Air Field in Iwate Prefecture. Thompson, PauJASDF - Order of Battle July 1, 2017''J-HangarSpace'' R ...

, the base is primarily used for training, and is the home of the JASDF 21st Fighter Training Squadron, currently equipped with Mitsubishi F-2B fighters. It is also the home base for the "

Blue Impulse (currently 11 Squadron 4th Air Wing, previously 21 Squadron 4th Air Wing) is the aerobatic demonstration team of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The team was founded in 1960 as a team of six F-86 Sabres. They changed mounts to the Mi ...

" JASDF acrobatic display team.

History

The base was established on 7 June 1937 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 ...

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 ...

. The Matsushima Naval Air Group was a shore-based unit equipped with

Mitsubishi G3M The was a Japanese bomber and transport aircraft used by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service (IJNAS) during World War II. The Yokosuka L3Y (Allied reporting name "Tina"), was a transport variant of the aircraft manufactured by the Yokosu ...

and

Mitsubishi G4M The Mitsubishi G4M was a twin-engine, land-based medium bomber formerly manufactured by the Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy from 1940 to 1945. Its official designati ...

bombers and participated in the

Battle of Okinawa The , codenamed Operation Iceberg, was a major battle of the Pacific War fought on the island of Okinawa by United States Army (USA) and United States Marine Corps (USMC) forces against the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA). The initial invasion of ...

during

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 bombed five times during the ending stages of the war, on 14 July, 15 July, 17 July, 9 August and 10 August 1945. In the early post-war era, the American occupation forces started to revive the Japanese military with the creation of the National Safety Forces. In 1954, "Camp Matsushima" was renamed "Matsushima Air Field" and training operations for the fledgling Japan Air Self-Defense Force began using

North American T-6 Texan The North American Aviation T-6 Texan is an American single-engined advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF), United States Navy, Royal Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force and other air forces ...

trainers. In 1971 an F-86F Sabre on a training mission from this base collided with

All Nippon Airways Flight 58 All Nippon Airways (ANA) Flight 58 was a Japanese domestic flight from Sapporo to Tokyo, operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA). On 30 July 1971, at 02:04 local time, a Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF) F-86F Sabre jet fighter collided with the ...

, causing 162 deaths. During the

2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami The occurred at 14:46 JST (05:46 UTC) on 11 March. The magnitude 9.0–9.1 (M) undersea megathrust earthquake had an epicenter in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region, and lasted approximately six minutes ...

, the base was flooded with seawater, and eighteen Mitsubishi F-2Bs belonging to 21st Squadron, as well as other aircraft, were damaged or destroyed.

Units

* Air Training Command ** 4th Air Wing *** 21st Fighter Training Squadron ( F-2B) *** 11th Squadron,

(

Kawasaki T-4 The Kawasaki T-4 is a Japanese subsonic intermediate jet trainer aircraft developed and manufactured by the commercial conglomerate Kawasaki Heavy Industries. Its sole operator is the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF), in part due to historic ...

) *

Air Rescue Wing Matsushima Detachment (JASDF) The Air Rescue Wing Matsushima Detachment () is a unit of the Air Rescue Wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It is also known as the Matsushima Air Rescue Squadron. Responsible for airborne search and rescue, it is based at Matsushima Air ...

(

UH-60J The Mitsubishi H-60 series is twin-turboshaft engine helicopter based on the Sikorsky S-70 helicopter family for use by the Japan Self-Defense Forces (JSDF). The SH-60J/K/L are anti-submarine patrol versions for the Japan Maritime Self-Defense ...

), (

U-125A The British Aerospace 125 is a twinjet mid-size business jet. Originally developed by de Havilland and initially designated as the DH.125 Jet Dragon, it entered production as the Hawker Siddeley HS.125, which was the designation used until 19 ...

)

References

External links

Matsushima Air Base
Japan Air Self-Defense Force bases Japan Self-Defense Forces Buildings and structures in Miyagi Prefecture Higashimatsushima, Miyagi 1937 establishments in Japan Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service {{Miyagi-geo-stub