Japan Coast Guard Disposition

(As at May 1, 2018)

One of the pair of Grumman Aerospace G-V Sea Watch aircraft operated by the Japan Coast Guard from Tokyo International Airport in flight close to a well-known local landmark.
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard) 

2018 marks the 70th anniversary of the Japan Coast Guard (JCG), and a specially designed logo (above) is being used throughout the year. According to the service’s website, the logo incorporates a ‘7’ that is linked around an image of the globe, centred on Japan, to signify protection and reflect the JCG’s place as a leader in maritime safety not only in Japan but throughout the world. Featuring an arrangement of Japanese plum blossoms that bloom even in harsh circumstances and are of use to people, the ‘0’ reflects the spirit of justice and benevolence with which the service will push ahead for the next 70 years.

(Map: Los688 via Wikimedia Commons)

Divided into 11 operational regions, the geographical areas of responsibility of which are shown in the map (above), the JCG comes under the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT) in Kasumigaseki, Tokyo.

For the benefit of the spectators aboard the patrol vessel Izu, members of the JCG’s Special Rescue Team
display their expertise from a 4th Region AW139. The demonstration formed part of the 70th anniversary
review of the fleet and comprehensive training drills held in Tokyo Bay in May 2018.
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

In May 2018, the Japan Coast Guard was operating 31 fixed-wing aircraft and 52 helicopters, of six and eight types, respectively, making a total fleet of 83 aircraft. The next major type introduction is planned to be five Dassault Falcon 2000MSA aircraft, which are due to be introduced from March 2019.

This page ends with a listing of the helicopter-capable ships operated by the JCG.

Overwater patrols are the primary task of the JCG’s fleet of Bombardier Q300s (as the service calls
its Dash 8-Q300s). In the case of the 1st Region, such flights can entail operations over
inhospitable waters for the purposes of fishery and environmental protection.
(Photo: 1st Region, Japan Coast Guard)

A fine action shot of one of the pair of Beech 350s operated by the 1st Region. JCG bases bestow
their aircraft with individual names by type and for PR purposes occasionally ask the public for
suggestions. Based at Chitose, in this case the aircraft bears the name Etopirika (Tufted Puffin)
on its nose. (Photo [May 2018]: Japan Coast Guard)

The pilot brings Sekirei (Wagtail)—one of the no less than six S-76 helicopters operated by the
1st Region—to the hover over the deck of the Kushiro-based patrol ship Sōya.
(Photo [Oct. 2015]: 1st Region, Japan Coast Guard)

The S-76C+ delivered to the JCG in October 1998 on a visit to JMSDF Ohminato in October 2013.
The aircraft bears the name Kumataka (Hodgson’s hawk eagle), revealing it to be assigned to the 
1st Region’s base at Kushiro, Hokkaido. (Photo: Amayagan via Wikimedia Commons)

One of the five Textron Aviation/Cessna Turbo Skyhawk JT-A training aircraft
(JCG designation Cessna 172S) that entered service in March 2018.
(Photo: 1st Region, Japan Coast Guard) 

One of the two AW139s based with the 2nd Region at Sendai airport, Miyagi Prefecture.
(Photo: 2nd Region, Japan Coast Guard)
 Having received the Bell 206B JetRanger named Abi (Red-throated Loon) in June 1991, the service
centered the type’s operations at Sendai, but the arrival of four Bell 505s early in 2018 means
that their days are numbered. (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

One of the two Haneda-based Bombardier Q300s on climb out. Delivered in 2009, this the first
aircraft named Mizunagi (Shearwater) was out of action undergoing repairs for more than a
year after being caught in the March 2011 tsunami at Sendai airport.
(Photo: 3rd Region, Japan Coast Guard)

Its flaps extended, one of the two Haneda-based Gulfstream Vs sedately takes part in the flypast held during the 70th anniversary review of the fleet over Tokyo Bay in May 2018. (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)
 A scene inside the 3rd Region’s hangar at Tokyo International Airport at the time of J-HangarSpace’s
visit in November 2016 (link). Undergoing maintenance was the JCG’s fifth Airbus Helicopters H225
Super Puma, which prior to the manufacturer’s change of name had been a Eurocopter EC225LP
at the time of its delivery in January the previous year.

Delivered in 2008 and the first of 18 AgustaWestland AW139 to have entered Japan Coast Guard service,
JA960A Kamitaka is currently operated by the 4th Region from Chubu Airport. The flag in the
cabin door window indicates that the regional commander is on board. 

Normally operated from the Mizuho and land-based at Nagoya’s Chubu International (Centrair), one of 
the 4th Region’s Bell 412s is seen here on a visit to Kansai International Airport, Osaka.
(Photo [Sept. 2016]: Alec Wilson via Wikimedia Commons)

A 5th Region Super Puma helicopter, one of a pair that the Special Security Team (SST), a unit attached
to the Osaka police that specializes in maritime counterterrorism, uses to train for vertical
insertion onto suspect vessels. (Photo: 5th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

One of the two specially modified, second-hand Saab 340B turboprops that were added to the JCG fleet in
February 2007, joining two acquired new in 1997. Both named Hayabusa (Peregrine Falcon), the later
arrivals fulfill the search and rescue role from Kansai International Airport.
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard) 

The crew of the 6th Region’s sole Bell 412 bid farewell to the spectators attending the JCG’s
70th anniversary fleet review on Tokyo Bay in May 2018. (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

Commissioned in December 2011 as the seventh of the JCG’s 18 AW139s and initially based on the
island of Ishigaki, Okinawa Prefecture, MH966 has been resident with the 7th Region since
March 2013. The aircraft is named Hamachidori (Plover).
(Photo: 7th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

One of the two Bell 412s that operate from the patrol vessel Yashima (PLH 22).
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

Two 8th Region stablemates, a Bombardier Q300 and an AW139, formate for the camera’s benefit on a
flight from Miho; the aircraft are named Mihowashi (‘Miho Eagle’) and Mihozuru (‘Miho Crane’),
respectively. The unusual angle reveals that the Dash 8 carries the Japanese for
Japan Coast Guard on the inner side of  the engine nacelle.
(Photo [March 2014]: 8th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

Crew preparedness training naturally plays an important part of JCG operations. Here the S-76D
Maizuru, which has since its entry into service in early 2015 also served aboard the patrol ship
Daisen, is used to provide some land-based winch and rappelling practice.
(Photo [July 2015]: 8th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

Back on terra firma, the same AW139 receives some attention in the JCG Miho hangar.
(Photo [June 2016]: 8th Region, Japan Coast Guard) 

The sole S-76D assigned to the 9th Region is operated from the patrol vessel Echigo.
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

The 9th Region’s two AW139s provide search and rescue cover along and off the coast of
three prefectures: Niigata, Toyama and Ishikawa. (Photo: 9th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

(Photo: Japan Coast Guard) 

Cruising above the clouds during its time with the 3rd Region, the Saab 340B-SAR shown above—currently operated by the 10th Region from Kagoshima—provides a good example for an explanation of the markings. The JCG website explains that the logo of a tipped over “S”, which appears on the side of all the organization’s ships and aircraft, denotes “speed, smart and service” in its safety, search and rescue, and survey missions. Italics were chosen for the fuselage titling to express “stability, dynamism and smartness” as well as to convey the JCG’s “dashing and active role in the international community”. The stylized compass rose that appears on the JCG’s flag is also worn on the tails of its aircraft to symbolize the service’s efforts toward maritime safety. Visible to the left of the front fuselage door and shown below, the harp seal cartoon character Umimaru has often been carried on aircraft since its adoption for the JCG’s 50th anniversary in 1998.

Sharing the name of a local protected species of bird, the Rurikakesu (Amami Jay), the 10th Region’s
sole S-76D hovers along the runway at Kagoshima Airport. The aircraft is normally assigned to
the patrol vessel Ōsumi. (Photo [Mar. 2015]: 10th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

One of the two Falcon 900s that were delivered to the JCG in Japan in September 1989 and are to be
to be replaced, after 30 years’ service, by Falcon 2000MSA aircraft (below) in 2019. In 2005, having 
asked the general public to suggest a name for both aircraft, replacing Ōtaka (Goshawk), JCG Naha
selected Chiyurawashi (Beautiful Eagle), chiyura being a word in the Okinawan dialect.
(Photo [May 2018]: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)
(Artists’s impression via Japan Coast Guard)

Both of the Naha-based AW139s have been in service there since first commissioned in March 2008.
(Photo [Sept. 2014]: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

One of the two Beech 350s that, alongside two AW139s, constitute the 11th Region’s aviation presence on
the island of Ishigaki, 410 km (260 miles) from Naha. The aviation element relocated to the
new Ishigaki Airport in March 2013. (Photo: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

(1) Branch schools at Moji, Fukuoka Prefecture and Iwanuma, Miyagi Prefecture

(Photo: 8th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

Helicopter-Capable Ships of the Japan Coast Guard

(Above) Tokyo Bay, off Tokyo International Airport, May 20, 2018. Vessels of the Japan Coast Guard in
line astern pass by dignitaries, including Prime Minister Shinzo Abe (furthest from camera), standing
in the place of honour on the Yashima (PLH 22). This was the second day of the 56th review of the
fleet, in which 37 ships and 15 aircraft participated to mark the JCG’s 70th anniversary.
(Below) The stern and helicopter hangar of the Yashima can be seen on the port side, while the Tosa
(PL 08) is in the van of the convoy on the starboard side. Formerly an annual event held in May, the  
fleet review has had to be cancelled on occasion before, most recently following the Great East Japan
Earthquake of 2011. Its suspension for the past six years, however, had been entirely due to the service’s
heightened level of operations in the seas around Okinawa and the uninhabited, disputed Senkaku Islands
(Pinnacle Islands, Diaoyu to the Chinese). Only the importance of the occasion had dictated that the
fleet review be reinstated on this year’s event calendar. (Photos: Japan Coast Guard)

(1) Patrol Vessels Large with Helicopter (PLH)

Commissioned in April 1992 and transferred from Yokohama to Kagoshima early in 2018, the Shikishima
can accommodate two Super Puma helicopters. A sister vessel, the Akitsushima, joined the fleet as
recently as November 2013. Shikishima shares her name with an Imperial Japanese Navy battleship
that saw combat in the Russo-Japanese War (1904–1905). (Photo: 3rd Region, Japan Coast Guard)

A visiting HH-65 Dolphin from a U.S. Coast Guard cutter sits on the helicopter deck of the old Mizuho
in Nagoya in October 2007. At that time, Japan was hosting a meeting of a six-nation coast guard
forum developed to combat illegal fishing and increase international maritime safety and
security in the Northern Pacific Ocean area. (Photo: U.S. Coast Guard Pacific Area)

Seen here making her way through light ice, the Sōya was built against the background of the Japanese
government’s March 1977 decisions to extend the nation’s territorial waters from three to 12 nautical
miles and impose a 200-nautical mile fishing limit. The name of the cape that forms the northernmost
point of mainland Japan in Hokkaido, Sōya has been a ship’s name since the early 1900s. In this
case, the ship continued the name of Japan’s first Antarctic research vessel, which
was decommissioned in 1978. (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

The Sōya having served essentially as a prototype, Japan built a series of modified, so-called blue water vessels in her image to police its extended territorial waters. As is the case with its helicopters, JCG ships are usually given a new name when transferred to a different operating region, and the Uruma shown here has twice been relocated. (Photo: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

(Above) Commissioned in September 1983 as the fifth of the nine Tsugaru-class patrol vessels, the
Chikuzen rests at her then home port of Hakata (Fukuoka) in February 2011. 
(Photo: tsuna72 via Wikimedia Commons)
(Below) The Chikuzen as she appears today, this time in daylight hours, as the Okinawa.
(Photo: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

A glimpse inside the hangar of the Settsu, during a JCG open day at Kobe port in July 2017.
(Photo: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

(2) Patrol Vessels Large (PL) / Deck space only (no hangar)

A normallly Fukuoka-based AW139 lands on the deck of the Tosa during the JCG’s 70th anniversary
fleet review and training drills, which were held in Tokyo Bay over two days in May 2018.
(Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

The majority of the 18-vessel Kunigami-class fleet, like the Ikema (above) and the Yonakuni (below),
is based in the Okinawa area, where its primary mission is security around the Senkaku Islands. In 
September 2010, in the course of fishery protection duties in the area, Yonakuni was involved in 
a collision with a Chinese trawler, which in Japan became known as the Minjinyu 5719 Incident.
                                                                                                (Photos: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)                                                                                                              

As a result of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake in 1995, the Izu patrol boat was designed to serve
as a disaster response command post with the added capability of being able to transport
large quantities of relief supplies to the afflicted areas.
(Photo [Yokohama, Apr. 2009]: Toshinbori Baba via Wikimedia Commons)

The design of these three vessels was in response to incursions by high-speed spy boats from North Korea
in the late 1990s/early 2000s. Hida is the name of the northernmost mountain range
in the Japanese Alps. (Photo: Japan Coast Guard)

Likewise extensively utilized around the Senkaku Islands, Hateruma-class vessels like the Ishigaki
are capable of a top speed in excess of 30 knots. (Photo: 11th Region, Japan Coast Guard)

The Kojima at its berth at Kure port. Providing prospective JCG officers with seagoing experience, the
Kojima regularly conducts extended deployments as part of the JCG Academy’s curriculum. In June
2017, for example, she made a U.S. port visit to Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo via wikimapia) 

Four ships head back to the Port of Yokohama after rehearsing for the May 2005 edition of the JCG
fleet review and comprehensive drill. From the lead ship, the four are the Izu (PL 31),
Yashima (PLH 22), Settsu (PLH 07) and Tsugaru (PLH 02).
(Photo: U.S. Coast Guard/PA1 Amy Thomas)