By SATOSHI OKUMURA/ Staff writer
May 26, 2025 at 17:29 JST
The U.S. military in Japan opened the training of its carrier-based aircraft to the public for the first time in six years on May 25 on Iwoto island in Tokyo’s Ogasawara village.
During the field carrier landing practice (FCLP), pilots perform repetitive landings on a land runway strip that simulates the deck of an aircraft carrier.
The roars of stealth fighter jets such as the F-35 Lightning II echoed across the island.
The moment the aircraft touched the runway—after descending at high speed—it increased power, took off and ascended again.
A roar that pierced the air vibrated reporters’ eardrums even through earplugs and resonated throughout their bodies.
The moment it landed, smoke rose from the aircraft’s tires and a burning odor filled the air.
The media filmed the scene several dozen meters away from the runway. Multiple aircraft passed in front of reporters in succession at intervals of about a minute.
A U.S. military official explained that the black stains on the reporters’ arms and faces were “spray” from the tires.
The landing practice is conducted every May, before U.S. aircraft carriers deployed to U.S. Fleet Activities Yokosuka in Kanagawa Prefecture depart from the port. This year, the FCLP started May 19 and is scheduled to end on May 31.
This was the first time the landing exercise has been open to the media in six years, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
During that time, the Japanese government decided to relocate the FCLP site to Mageshima, an uninhabited island near Tanegashima island in Kagoshima Prefecture, at the request of the United States.
Construction of a Self-Defense Forces base, including a runway, is under way on Mageshima island.
Iwoto island, also known as Iwojima, was the site of a fierce battle near the end of the Pacific War. The island is 1,400 kilometers from Marine Corps Air Station Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the carrier-based aircraft unit is based.
On Iwoto island, a joint Japan-U.S. memorial service was held in March to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of the war. Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and defense ministers from both nations attended the ceremony.
In April, the emperor and empress also visited the island to mourn the war dead there. Currently, the remains of more than 10,000 people that cannot be accommodated remain buried under the runway and at other sites on the island.
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White smokes rise from the tires of the U.S. EA-18G carrier-based electronic warfare aircraft in Tokyo’s Ogasawara village on May 25. (Satoshi Okumura)
