First Lieutenant (born ) is the first female fighter pilot in Japan.
Matsushima graduated from the
Japan National Defense Academy
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 ...
in March 2014 and obtained her pilot's license in October 2016. Matsushima initially trained to be a transport and rescue pilot, but started training to be a fighter pilot after the Ministry of Defense opened the fighter pilot specialization to women candidates in 2015. She received her fighter certification on August 23, 2018, and was assigned to
305th Tactical Fighter Squadron
The 305th Tactical Fighter Squadron () is a squadron of the 5th Air Wing of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force based at Nyutabaru Air Base, in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan. It is equipped with Mitsubishi F-15J and Kawasaki T-4 aircraft. Thompson, PauJ ...
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 warf ...
's 5th Air Wing, headquartered at
Nyutabaru Air Base
is a military aerodrome of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force. It is located north of Miyazaki in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan.
In July 2021, Japan’s Defense Minister, Nobuo Kishi, announced that the base will host the F-35Bs of the JASDF. A ...
, where she will fly the
Mitsubishi F-15J
The Mitsubishi F-15J/DJ Eagle is a twin-engine, all-weather air superiority fighter based on the McDonnell Douglas F-15 Eagle in use by the Japan Air Self-Defense Force (JASDF). The F-15J was produced under license by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries ...
.
Japan has had female military aviators since Kazue Kashiji in 1997; Matsushima is the first to pilot a fighter type aircraft.