JASDF – Where Are They Now?  Part 1

As far as is possible, this section will provide the latest information on the whereabouts of surviving examples of withdrawn JASDF aircraft, which can be found in places far removed from the cosseted shelter of aviation museums. Divided into fixed-wing and helicopter types, the latter being included in Part 2, the information comes in the form of tables of aircraft by type that are being interspersed with a growing number of photos.

Part 1  Beechcraft B-65 (Queen Air A65) to McDonnell-Douglas F-15J Eagle

Part 2  Mitsubishi F-1 to North American T-28B Trojan plus helicopter types

All the aircraft listed are on open-air display unless otherwise stated. Bold-type serial numbers indicate aircraft that appear in photos immediately after the relevant table.

As a general guide, a colour-coded Where Are They Now? listing by prefecture follows the tabular JMSDF aircraft information [here].

The JASDF Air Park at Hamamatsu AB, September 2000. Having become something of
a “time capsule” in the 20 years of its existence, the facility underwent some radical
changes in 2021. See the January and April 2021 Bulletin Board stories for details.

Now housed in a facility within KHI’s Gifu Works, a former Blue Impulse T-4 relives its
mirror formation flying days. (Photo [Nov. 2022]: DOLPHIN via Twitter @s2f5g4)

Even base collections are prone to constant change due to airframe damage or deterioration. Many
of the aircraft seen at Gifu AB in October 2000 (above) have since either been removed or replaced.
Former prides of the JASDF fleet can come in for some disrespectful treatment at annual base
open day events. Fortunately, those at Matsushima AB (below) escaped the worst of the
damage caused by the devastating tsunami that struck on March 11, 2011,
but only three remained in the summer of 2018.
(All photographs on this website are copyright J-HangarSpace unless otherwise stated.) 

Contrastingly, the same Matsushima F-86F receives some TLC from base personnel, next to a sign
that warns children that climbing on aircraft can be dangerous. The accompanying caption stated  
that some of the cleaning detail are air traffic controllers, who rarely come into close contact  
with the aircraft, being given the opportunity to trade in their headset mikes for wipes.
(Photo [July 2020]: JASDF/Matsushima AB via Twitter @matsushimabase).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the SDFs increased their output of media information. In the case
case of Komaki’s PR office, this included releasing this unusually artsy image of a Fuji T-3, one of 
two aircraft that are sheltered in wartime dispersal hangars at the base.
(Photo [August 2021]: via Twitter @komaki_airbase)

It is impossible for all aircraft to go into peaceful retirement. Feted after its last flight for having
amassed a total of 17,780 flying hours on May 11, 2015, this ex-402nd Airlift Sqn C-1 was
unceremoniously broken up on site the following year. (Photo: JASDF Iruma)

(Above and below) The numbers of preserved aircraft in less secure display environments than say 
the JASDF Air Park are gradually dwindling. Both of these examples, which were displayed at 
the Family Sports Park in Chippubetsu, Hokkaido Prefecture, were removed and disposed of
as part of the park’s refurbishment in 2016, 10 years after these photos were taken.
(Photos [Nov. 2006]: 100 Yen via Wikimedia Commons)

Fixed-Wing Types

The B-65 that was removed from display and placed in outside storage at the JASDF Air Park in
March 2021 bears the markings of the Southwestern Command Support Flight based at
Naha, Okinawa Prefecture. It was from there that the aircraft was flown to
Hamamatsu after its withdrawal from service.

Originally delivered to JMSDF as 6728 June 8, 1970, the JASDF received this Beech B65 on a
transfer in March 1980. Placed on display at Naha after retirement on July 16, 1998, the 
aircraft was moved to its current location circa 2010. (Photo [April 2017]: Warren Hardcastle)

(Photo [Old Car Center KUDAN, Naraha, Dec. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

Having been registered N7754 for ferry flight purposes, 03-3093 (above) was initially delivered to the JMSDF as 6722 on September 3, 1963, and had served with the 202nd Air Training Sqn before being transferred to the JASDF on March 5, 1980. The aircraft is still carrying the markings applied when flown for the last time on February 3, 1998, and for its last public appearance, at the Iruma air show the following November. Note though that the inscription on the engine nacelle gives 1969 as the year of its service entry.

(Above) The Nara T-34A as it appeared in April 2013. A photo posted by the base soon after the
collection had undergone facelifts (below, see Bulletin Board March 2023) showed this aircraft
in the background. Currently sporting an orange colour scheme, its overall appearance is
marred by a badly clouded canopy.
(Photos: [Top] Hunini via Wikimedia Commons; [above, posted March 2023]
JASDF Nara via Twitter @JASDF_nara)

The Hijiri Museum T-34A’s operational service commenced in March 1955 and ended while
assigned to the 11th FTW in September 1973. Although in comparatively good condition, the
orange-painted areas on the wingtips and atop the fin have almost disappeared. 
The propeller that can be seen in the background of the photo below is one of the few 
remaining relics from JASDF C-46 91-1144, the nose section and main wheels of
which were removed from display and disposed of by Gifu AB personnel circa 2012.
(Photos [Aug. 2020]: TAKA via X @alice_herb)

(Photo [JASDF Air Park, Nov. 2014]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

Normally kept safely tucked away in a hangar, the Shizuhama AB collection’s T-34A is
given an airing for special on-base events.

One of the 75 Fuji-built T-34As delivered to the JASDF, in this case in 1956, the Hofu-Minami AB
Mentor was initially parked in the air rescue squadron area on Nyutabaru AB when its
operational career came to an end in January 1980.
(Photo [posted Mar. 2021]: Aomori SDF Provincial Cooperation Office via X @aomori_PCO)

(Photo [Komatsu AB, Sept. 2018]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

In contrast to other examples, the Gifu base collection’s T-34A was looking decidedly sorry
for itself when the above photo was taken in October 2000. Happily, the aircraft
received a new coat of paint in 2010 and remains in residence.
(Photo above [Nov. 2023]: tujimon via X @orapo960)

Beech T-34A 71-0419 is parked across from the Shubudai Memorial Hall at Iruma AB. Displayed
at an amusement park in Tochigi Prefecture after its retirement from active service in 1981, the
aircraft was added to the Iruma collection then housed next to the on-base Inariyama-Koen
train station. The collection took up residence at its current location in 2003.

Delivered to the JASDF on June 19, 1957, and later operated by the 11th FTW, 71-0428’s flying
career ended on April 18, 1979. It is believed to have been perched precariously on poles on the
forecourt of a Suzuki car dealership in Shizuoka City for most of its retirement. The banner on
the right is advertising shiitake mushrooms. (Photo [Nov. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

The battered nose section is all that remains of T-34A 71-0435, the last Mentor built by Fuji from
knocked-down components. In service from July 31, 1957, to October 21, 1980, the remnant
is to be found at the Onrakukan sound and light museum in Asakura, Fukuoka Prefecture.
(Photo [April 2017]: Warren Hardcastle)

The most recent JASDF wings to have been clipped are those of the pair of Boeing 747-400s used by
the 701st Sqn to transport imperial and prime ministerial entourages on visits
throughout the world. (Photo: JASDF)

After 26 years of operational service, one of the Boeing 747-400s takes off from
Sapporo’s Shin-Chitose airport runway for the last time, June 27, 2019.
(Photo: JASDF Public Affairs Office via Twitter @JASDF_PAO)

(Photo: Airplane Ben @BenAirplane)

(Photo [Miho AB, Oct. 2014]: Andy Binks)

Curtiss EC-46D 91-1143 graces the park that houses the Tokorozawa Aviation Museum.
Withdrawn from its role as an electronic countermeasures training aircraft in April 1978,
the aircraft has remained in its current location since March 1980.

(Iruma, Sept. 2012 [This aircraft had been repainted by mid-March 2021])

Having been handed over to the JASDF on December 1959, this 1942-vintage C-46D soldiered
on until finally withdrawn from use while with the Air Transport Wing on June 8, 1976.
(Photos at Gifu AB: [Top, Mar. 1980] Takao Kadokami; [above, Oct. 2000] J-HangarSpace)
A long overdue repaint has transformed the aircraft from its November 2019 appearance (link).
(Photo [Jan. 2023]: JASDF Gifu AB via X [formerly Twitter] @JASDF_GIFUAB)
The repainting of Gifu’s C-46 in May 2022 permitted a rare glimpse of the interior of this
venerable aircraft. Built in 1944, 91-1141 came to Japan via the Republic of China
(Taiwan) Air Force in December 1959 and remained in service until June 1976.
(Photos: JASDF Gifu AB via Twitter @JASDF_GIFUAB)

(Above) One of the original exhibits at the JASDF Air Park when it opened in April 1999, the C-46
is seen here as it was in September 2000. This aircraft was given a fresh coat of paint late in 2004.
(Below) The same aircraft in October 2012. (Photo: Arjun Sarup)

Built and acquired in 1956, the JASDF’s sole de Havilland Vampire T.55 was used to evaluate the
side-by-side training concept. The aircraft was struck of charge in September 1960.

Its canopy having been carefully given a protective covering, the Air Park Vampire is given a
helping hand as it ventures out for its first breath of fresh air in some time. The photo was
taken on the day in March 2021 when the aircraft was one of eight banished from the
museum and placed in store to make way for new arrivals.
(See Bulletin Board for Jan. and Apr. 2021). (Photo: tujimon via Twitter @orapo960)

(Above and below) For many years, the prototype of Japan’s first indigenously produced postwar jet aircraft has been languishing in disassembled storage at what is now the Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum. In April 2001, seven months after these photos were taken at Ashiya AB, the aircraft was removed from display, taken over National Research Institute for Cultural Properties (Tobunken) in Tokyo and transferred to Kakamigahara in April 2002, from where it has yet to again see the light of day. Rolled out on November 11, 1957, and first flown on January 19, 1958, the then T1F2 (T-1A) was handed over to the Defense Agency on March 25 that year. Having made its second first flight, to re-engined T1F1 (T-1B) standard, on May 17, 1960, the aircraft was withdrawn from service at the then Air Proving Group at Gifu on December 18, 1961, and occasionally loaned out for publicity events. ’801’s marathon residency as an Ashiya gate guard commenced circa 1964; this photo is from November 1967 (link).

(Photos [Ashiya AB, Sept. 2000]: J-HangarSpace)

Rescued for Posterity: T-1A 95-5803
Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture

(Photo [Sept. 2017]: TAKA via Twitter @alice_herb)

Mounted on a trestle, the fuselage of this aircraft is kept in the car park of Itoh Denki Kosakusho (the workshop of automotive equipment maker Itoh Electric) located along Highway 1 in the city of Toyokawa, Aichi Prefecture. The facility is close to Kozakai station on Central Japan Railway (JR Tokai)’s Iida Line.

First flown on January 23, 1959, this the first of four pre-production T-1As was delivered to the then Technical Development and Research Institute of the Japan Defense Agency on March 9 and according to one report to the JASDF on June 24 of that year. Flown from Komaki during the type’s test programme, this aircraft was based at Gifu with the 13th Flying Training Wing at the time of its appearance at a Yokota AB event in May 1960 (link). These two photos show the aircraft from the left (link) and right (link) sides at Hamamatsu in November 1965.

Following its withdrawal from use, which took place as early as September 7, 1968, the aircraft was noted on display still at Hamamatsu AB in March 1974 and at the Kanzanji Pal Pal amusement park at Lake Hamana, Shizuoka Prefecture, in August 1988. Removed and dismantled in 1990, ’803 was eventually acquired by the Itoh company, which had originally planned to build a tower on which to mount the aircraft for publicity purposes, in itself not a rare use for former SDF aircraft. A photo from February 2003 shows the fuselage on its low-level trestle, but with the top of its fin missing.

(Photo [Oct. 2017]: via Twitter @sabannar2)

A series of photos of the aircraft in its service days (sporting an array of vortex generators on its tail) and its current home taken in October 2013 can be found here (link). Another image shows the aircraft in its current location and with its canopy wisely protected in June 2020 (link).

Including a photo of the cockpit and current company president Toshiyuki Itoh (50), an article on The Chunichi Shimbun news website dated October 25, 2020 (link), provides a little more of the back story. It was a young Itoh who had rescued and restored the aircraft. In 1995 a member of an aviation enthusiasts’ group in Hamamatsu, he had heard that the aircraft was destined for the scrap yard and managed to negotiate the acquisition of its fuselage, minus the tail section. Scouring the country for spares, including flight instruments, wheels and canopy, while receiving cooperation from local painters and welders he knew, Itoh went to great lengths to make up for the neglect that the aircraft had suffered over the years.

Two years after the initial acquisition, Itoh obtained information about another T-1 (reportedly the second prototype, ’802) that was about to be scrapped in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, and purchased the rear half of the fuselage, which was duly mated to his pride and joy. In the article, Itoh says that in total he spent the equivalent of the cost of a luxury car.

While the first prototype languishes in storage behind the scenes, the immaculate
10th T-1 built steals the limelight as one of the main collection exhibits at the
Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum. 

(Photo [Ashiya, Oct. 1990]: Takao Kadokami)The prototype’s replacement on guard duty at Ashiya has been the 12th T-1A built. Delivered to the
JASDF 60 years ago, on December 17, 1960, the aircraft completed its last flight with the 13th 
FTW at Ashiya on February 1, 2001, and was withdrawn from use at the end of that month. 
The above photo was posted to announce its first makeover in six years.
(Photo [October 2020]: JASDF/Ashiya AB via Twitter @jasdf.ashiya)

Delivered to the JASDF in July 1961, 15-5825 was assigned to both the Air Proving Wing
and the 13th Flying Training Wing in a service career that spanned 27 years and evicted
 from the JASDF Air Park museum after 22-year residency in March 2021.

Delivered on September 28, 1962, it was 853 that made the last T-1B flight, from Komaki to
Hamamatsu, on March 3, 2006—as seen here (link) that day, with the Japanese for
So Long Komaki AB on the right side of its fuselage, So Long T-1B on the left
(link)—before being struck off charge on May 11 that year.
(Photo [Nov. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

The presentation ceremony for this Fuji T-1B was held at Tokorozawa Aviation Museum
on March 19, 2006.

(Photo [Miho AB, May 2017]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

During the J-HangarSpace visit to the Mitsu Seiki company facility in Hyogo Prefecture, Feb. 2014

Having reportedly been involved in the training of more than 2,800 pilots during the course of
its 43-year (March 1963 to May 2006) service career, T-1B 35-5863 has been on display in
the car park at Oji Technical High School, Nara Prefecture, since July 30, 2007.
(Photo [May 2012]: Oji Technical High School Facebook page)

Upon its retirement, this 5th Air Technical School T-1B was placed on display at its Komaki base. 

(Above) 866 during its time on display at the Aichi Museum of Flight and (below) being returned
to Komaki AB under cover of darkness to minimize traffic disruption at the end of its residency.
(Photos: [Top] はやと＠ばーちゃん via Twitter @ts4rWEpSMDXrSvn;
[above, Oct. 7, 2022]: ちひろ via Twitter @Chr0102)

During J-HangarSpace’s October 2013 visit to the Subaru company facility in
Gyoda, Saitama Prefecture

First flown on January 17, 1978, the prototype Fuji KM-2B entered service as the T-3 in March the 
same year. Its last flight, from Gifu to Shizuhama, took place on April 23, 2007. Then still in its 
ADTW markings, the markings of the resident 11th FTW markings were a later addition.
(Photo [Shizuhama AB, Sept. 2016]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

The second-built Fuji T-3 joined a now removed North American T-6G outside the Chiran Peace
Museum in May 2005. It was thought more suitable to have a Japanese-built aircraft provide a
focal point at a museum dedicated to the wartime special attack pilots. For that reason, too,
the aircraft’s standard JASDF red and white training colour scheme gave way to
a natural metal finish. (Photo: Arjun Sarup)

The T-3 at Komaki peers out from its home since 2010, one of a row of three 1944-vintage concrete
dispersal hangars surviving at the base (its next door neighbour is T-6G 52-0075). In more rural
parts of Japan, these relics have long since been repurposed, in some cases for the storage of
agricultural equipment. At least this example is being used as originally intended, albeit
anachronistically for a T-3 that was in service from October 1978 to March 2007.
The previous resident was likely an Army Type 2 Hien fighter of the 55th Flight Regiment.
(Photo [from viewing area at Aichi Museum of Flight, Nov. 2019]: Mike Jefferies)

Serving as gate guard at Shizuhama AB, Fuji T-3 91-5511 retains the tail marking of its
time spent with the based 11th Flying Training Wing.

This T-3 ended up at a park, from which sailplanes are flown, by the Tone River in Saitama
Prefecture. (Photo: SaitamaNabi [link] promotional site for Saitama Prefecture parks)

(Photo: Misawa Aviation & Science Museum)

The T-3 at the JASDF Air Park is dramatically suspended from the ceiling. Listed on the engine
cowling are the names of the personnel who carried out the aircraft’s final overhaul.
(Photo: Arjun Sarup)

(Above) Located in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan Aviation Academy Wajima (JAAW) has this former
JASDF T-3 on free loan on condition that it is used purely for instructional purposes. Many JAAW
instructors formerly served in the SDF, and this connection has eased the obtaining of former
SDF aircraft for use on the academy’s courses.
(Taken in January 2014, photo courtesy Masayuki Sakamoto, JAAW)
(Below) The same aircraft when given an airing for the October 2013 JAAW Noto Airport Campus
air show. As far as is known, the aircraft escaped damage during the January 2024 earthquake. 
(Photo: i北陸 [i-Hokuriku] / Hokuriku region official event and tourist destination blog [link])

Photo from J-HangarSpace’s Feb. 2014 visit to the Mitsu Seiki company in Hyogo Prefecture.

Ishikawa Aviation Plaza (Photo [Sept. 2011]: i北陸 [i-Hokuriku] / Hokuriku region official
event and tourist destination blog [link])

The T-3 displayed at JASDF Omaezaki Sub-Base is seen (above) on the day of its arrival in
2008 and (below) at the end of a makeover carried out by a team from Shizuhama AB
from September to October 2019, as documented here (link).
(Photos: JASDF Omaezaki Sub-Base)

Its service career having lasted from April 1981 to August 2005, T-3 11-5540 was at
some stage thereafter placed on display at the Kanazawa Institute of Technology.
(Photo [Nov. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

The Miho AB T-3 in October 2014 (above) and May 2017(Photos: [Top] Andy Binks; [above] Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

(Photo [posted Oct. 2023]: 岐阜かかみがはら航空宇宙博物館 via X @SORAHAKU324)

The three mothballed E-2Cs at Gifu seen on the air show day in November 2023.
That on the right is 54-3456; the others are thought to be ’455 and ’457.
(Photo: GHOST via X [formerly Twitter] @boy_816)

(Photo [Miho AB, May 2018]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

Having been flown for the last time at the Iruma air show in November 2022, C-1 029 was
still present there, albeit minus its tail, in August 2023. (Photo: mania via X @ mania1515)

(See Kawasaki C-1 Retrospective/Sitrep (Aug. 2022) on JASDF Aircraft Roll Call page.)

(Photo: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

T-4 46-5729 on October 7, 2024, the day of its arrival at Kumagaya AB (See Bulletin Board
story). The aircraft’s official unveiling is scheduled for February 2025.
(Photo: JASDF Kumagaya AB via X @kumagaya_jasdf)

The retired T-4 selected for display at JASDF Air Park being towed along a Hamamatsu AB
taxiway to take up residence in a three-aircraft Blue Impulse exhibit, March 2021.
(Photo: tujimon via X @orapon960)

See October 2022 Bulletin Board story (Photo [Oct. 20, 2022]: マイテイvia Twitter @mighty0715)

* The front fuselage section of F-104J 36-8538 remains in the Nyutabaru base museum. The complete aircraft was in service from November 26, 1963, initially with the 201st Sqn, to July 5, 1982, ending its days with the 204th Sqn and for a time placed on display at Nyutabaru.

One of those aircraft that Mitsubishi assembled from knocked-down components, the F-104J at the
Gifu-Kakamigahara Air and Space Museum was initially operated by the JASDF’s 201st Sqn.
Having ended its operational career with the Air Proving Group in April 1986, 36-8515
was placed on display at what was then the Kakamigahara Aerospace Science Museum
in March 1996. (Photo [May 2023]: 颯太 via X @_y4tty_)

Photographed a few days before being joined on gate guard duties at Hofu-Kita AB by F-1 10-8256
after the latter’s on-base move in March 2023, F-104J 36-8537 has only in recent years had its
cockpit canopy painted black. Damaged beyond economic repair in an accident at Nyutabaru
on October 14, 1972, ’537 was been on public display at the base since July 21, 1997.
(Photo: JASDF Hofu-Kita AB via Twitter @hofukitabase)

(Above) The Ishikawa Aviation Plaza F-104J as it was in September 2001 and (below) seen in
part from the vantage point of a platform erected next to the neighbouring T-2’s
cockpit in October 2021.
(Oct. 2021 photo: Phantom 2-680 via Twitter @680Phantom 2)

In squadron service from September 1963 to May 1984 (link), by the autumn of 1986 Gifu AB’s
resident F-104J had been placed on display alongside the Bell 47G-2A (now in the JMSDF
Kanoya museum) in the Izu BioPark in Shizuoka Prefecture (link). When returned to the
JASDF, the aircraft was passed to Gifu AB in 203rd Sqn markings, complete with shark
mouth, in April 2004 (link); the Air Proving Wing tail markings were applied in 2009.
(Photo [Nov. 2023]: K太郎 via X @kekekeno_Ktaro)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1A
Lockheed-Mitsubishi F-104J Starfighter 36-8546
Tsuiki AB, Fukuoka Prefecture

In December 2017, the aircraft’s condition was unchanged from that shown above (link).
(Photo [Tsuiki AB, Oct. 2012]: Takao Kadokami)

(Photo [Tsuiki AB, Nov. 1999]: Takao Kadokami)

As seen above, having in its time having come in for some of the same treatment as the Matsushima F-86F at the top of this page, this aircraft has been a long-term member of the Tsuiki AB collection.

(Photo [Sept. 2000]: J-HangarSpace)

Handed over to the JASDF on October 31, 1963, and having done the rounds of several units, its service career ended in January 25, 1984. ’546 has perennially been displayed in standard 207th Sqn markings, but while with the Nyutabaru-based 204th Sqn in November 1983, shortly before its retirement, this was one of the aircraft that had worn a low-visibility camouflage scheme at that year’s TAC Meet.

(Photos [Sept. 2000]: J-HangarSpace)

(Above) Having escaped the scrapyard, some former SDF have remained in the same hands for
years. Delivered to the 202nd Sqn on Jan. 31, 1964, this F-104J was withdrawn from use with
the same unit on Mar. 21, 1980. It has been kept in a hangar at Nippon Bunri University (NBU)
in Oita for around 30 years. The JASDF H-19 in the background was not so lucky and  
has long since been removed.  ([October 1988] Photo: Takao Kadokami)
(Below) Fast forward to 2017, and that same F-104J does not seem to have moved very far.
In case you are wondering, the three banners on the hangar wall honour NBU students who
have successfully competed in contests organized by the Japan Origami Airplane Association.
(Photo [April 2017]: Warren Hardcastle)

The F-104J in Kotobuki Park, Nakatonbetsu, Hokkaido Prefecture, being prepared for and
and after completion of repainting in 2023. In service from January 1964 to June 1980,
the aircraft has amazingly been a park resident since 1982.
(Photos [top, summer 2023; above, posted Nov. 2023]: Rudy via X @aG2kCoLaEPjzPjx)

(Photo [Miho AB, Oct. 2014]: Andy Binks)

Kasuga AB, Fukuoka Prefecture, Sept. 2000
(Photo [Nov. 2017]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)
This aircraft’s appearance in November 2019 can be seen in this photo (link).

(Above and below) The F-104J at the Hijiri Village Museum normally receives some measure of
protection from the rigours of winter in the mountains of Nagano Prefecture.
(Photos, via X: [Top, Dec. 2023] aya01@長野県特地派遣隊 @aya01flt;
[above, posted Dec. 2023] Hijiri Village Museum Volunteer Group @m5p4lczOzT3U0mA)

In service from February 1964 to March 1980—here (link) when with the 203rd Sqn at Chitose in
October 1979—this F-104J was first displayed in normal static fashion at the 1980 Chitose air
show. The aircraft was mounted on its concrete structure in 2002 and repainted in 2014.(Photos: [Top] のりvia X @norinori1977; [above] JASDF Chitose AB)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1B
Lockheed-Mitsubishi F-104J Starfighter 46-8594
Minobu Town, Yamanashi Prefecture

(Photo [204th Sqn, Nyutabaru, Nov. 1976]: Takao Kadokami)

(Photo [Aug. 2020]: TAKA via Twitter @alice_herb)

A corner of this small town of 12,000 in south-central Yamanashi Prefecture is home to five intact ex-SDF aircraft in varying states of repair as well as the nose of a T-2 and (possibly still) the wings from a Sabre.*

Securely perched on the roof of a private house, the centrepiece F-104J was delivered to the JASDF on July 30, 1964, and withdrawn from use while with the 204th Sqn on April 30, 1991. The aircraft was at one time one of three Starfighters, including a two-seat F-104DJ, on the premises of Café Avion in Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, which closed down in 2011.

In the meantime, ’594 had already been acquired by its current owner and was in its present rooftop position in Minobu Town by January 2002. One Japanese source states that the owner’s family name is Mochizuki. Although yet to be confirmed, this could be Mikiya Mochizuki, who has served as the town mayor.

The aircraft can be glimpsed in this advertisement for its previous owner’s location, Café Avion in
Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, which appeared in the May 1996 issue of Kōkū Fan magazine.

* Including a short video, the Twitter feed of the photographer mentioned in the above caption provides a good lie of the land (link).

Retired from active service after 20 years in May 1985, F-104J 46-8622 was at some stage
placed on display at JASDF Ominato Sub-Base, the radar site of which can be
seen atop Mt. Kamabuse from the city of Mutsu.
(Photo [posted July 2022]: JMSDF Headquarters Ominato District via Twitter @jmsdf_orh)

(Above [October 2000] and below [December 2018]) Delivered to the JASDF on September 30,
1964, the F-104J displayed at Hyakuri was withdrawn from use at the base in May 1985 and
originally simply put out to grass wearing the blue stylized ‘7’ and plum blossom marking of
the 206th Sqn on the right sideof its tail and the red version of the 207th Sqn on the left.
Now pointing skyward on a pole, the for a time strangely coloured aircraft—presumably given a
fresh coat of protective paint since the above photo was taken—bears the same plum blossom
marking but with a black ‘7’. In the early 2000s, the plinth of the display still carried a plaque 
with the Japanese inscription that translated as ‘7th Wing, 25th anniversary of Hyakuri AB
expansion. September 12, 1992’. Today, only a weathered plaque, dated ‘an auspicious day
in September 1992’, has the barely legible names of the pole-mounting project team.
(See Bulletin Board, May 2022 story: Hyakuri’s F-104J Reverted)

Not the best of photos, but included to give some idea of the condition of the Hofu-Minami AB
F-104J, which was in squadron service from September 1964 to May 1984.
(Photo [posted Mar. 2021]: Aomori SDF Provincial Cooperation Office via X @aomori_PCO)

The 1965-vintage F-104J on the base collection lawn at Ashiya AB. Its external condition does  
not seem to have changed much from the time when this photo was taken, in
September 2000, to this in October 2019 (link).
(In June 2021, a request for tenders anticipated the aircraft’s removal that autumn,
but the work was carried out [with the T-33A] late that August.)
The Ashiya F-104J is seen on the left in this photo of a 204th Sqn duo departing Nyutabaru on
January 6, 1984; ’663 was retired from active service in May the following year.
(Photo: Takao Kadokami)

The F-104J at Komatsu AB carries the tail marking of the (until June 1981) former
resident 205th Sqn. (Photo [September 2018]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons) 

(Photo [Dec. 2016]: ‘Fuchu’ via Wikimedia Commons)

Having served for 17 years, this Mitsubishi-built F-104J Starfighter was put out to grass close
to Iruma AB’s Shubudai Memorial Hall, which is visible in the left background.
. . . and from the other side. (Photo [Mar. 2023]: まーさん＠描く闘技２ via X @neckrock_ma2)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1C
Lockheed-Mitsubishi F-104J Starfighter 46-8656 (“36-8535”)
Nyutabaru AB, Miyazaki Prefecture

Although many sources say that this aircraft was the first F-104J supplied to Nyutabaru, a nearby sign states that this was the first to fly into Nyutabaru, on November 14, 1963, when seemingly on a visit from Chitose. The base personnel decided not to mention that this aircraft is actually an imposter, 46-8656 having had its serial changed to match that of what was either the first F-104J to take up residency or possibly just a guest that day nearly 60 years ago. (Having fortunately survived the 2011 tsunami, the real ’535 can be found at Matsushima AB.)

Delivered to the JASDF on December 23, 1964, the active service career of ’656 had ended while at Nyutabaru with the 204th Sqn on April 30, 1981. Retaining its last unit’s marking on the left side of its tail, at some stage thereafter the colours of that on the right were changed to those of the 202nd Sqn, and its serial numbers doctored for its new identity. Then still wearing its correct serial number, the aircraft had been placed at a tilted angle on plinths by the end of 1982 and, also as seen below, was still stuck in that position in November 1995.

The real 46-8656 (Photo [Nov. 28, 1982]: Takao Kadokami)

The fake 36-8535 (Photo [Nov. 26, 1995]: Takao Kadokami)

(Above and below) Both taken on November 30, 1997, these photos show the aircraft back on an
even keel and now movable for air show display purposes.
(Photos: Takao Kadokami)

(Above and below) Three years later, on November 26, 2000, the aircraft was once again chocked  
and tethered and perched on plinths. Just visible between the mainwheels (photo below) is the 
reverse side of a black stone monument dedicated to and bearing the personnel names of 
the former 202nd Sqn, which had disbanded the month before.

The aircraft has remained rooted to that same spot to this day. The central section of the 202nd Sqn
monument bears the kanji 精鋭 (sei-ei), meaning elite.
(Photo [Sept. 2020]: JASDF Nyutabaru AB via Twitter @JASDF_Nyutabaru)

Taken in July 2023, this photo “535” now corralled, having been joined by a gaggle of
retired aircraft from the Nyutabaru base collection. (Photo: 颯太 via X @_y4tty_)

With only an equally flightless bird for company, the F-104J in Kyoyama Green Park in Okayama
looks very much down in the dumps. (Photo [posted Nov. 2023]: TAKA via X @alice_herb)

(Above and below) The pole-mounted F-104J at Naha AB. Displayed next to an F-4EJ and a
T-33A, the aircraft can be seen from the Naha airport monorail visible in the background.
(Photos: [Top, Oct. 2014] Andy Binks; [above, Aug. 2023]
OKA@飛行機好き via X @oka_Boeing787) 

(Photo [Chitose, November 2013]: t-konno via Wikimedia Commons) 

(Photo [Oct. 2012]: Arjun Sarup)

Enjoying a brief respite from being cooped up indoors, the Air Park Starfighter basks in the
Hamamatsu sun in March 2021. The aircraft was parked outside next to the museum’s
F-86D while eight aircraft were moved to storage to make way for their new
neighbours, a Phantom and a T-4. (Photo: tujimon via Twitter @orapo960)

(Photo: Misawa Aviation & Science Museum)

Originally delivered to the 204th Sqn in July 1967, the Starfighter displayed outside at the JASDF
Air Park has been painted in the markings carried by the 14 aircraft converted to UF-104J/JA
pilotless target drone standard. These were flown from Iwo Jima between 1994 and 1997.
(Photos: [top, Sept. 2000]; [above, Aug. 2023] ぽんた via X @n_wag_p)

On December 2, 1967, 76-8710 became the last F-104J to be delivered. Retired on January 25,  
1984, while with the 203rd Sqn, the aircraft has been resident at the Nakanippon Aviation 
College, Gifu Prefecture, since at least the late 1990s. In January 2017, a crane was used  
to move the F-104J to a new position within the college, where it remains to this day.
(Photo, top [Jan. 2017]: Nakanippon Aviation College via Twitter @cnakouhou)
(Photo, above [Sept. 2019]: Nagoya Sky Friend Association via Twitter @sfanagoya)

大　Starfighter Scrapbook
慶    Daikeien Amusement Park, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture
園    (All photos by Warren Hardcastle, November 2019)

Having first been flown as 36-8571 early in January 1964, this aircraft was 46-8571 by the time of
its delivery to the 202nd Sqn on March 13 that year. Having suffered a minor fire on December 22,
1967, in August 1968 the airframe was passed on to Hamamatsu AB and mounted on a trestle for
use as a maintenance training “skeleton”. Surplus to requirements from around 1986, the
circumstances and date of its arrival at the Daikeien Amusement Park are unknown.

Long before being added in a less than fully intact state to the Daikeien collection, 56-8669 had
been delivered on January 30, 1965, and withdrawn from use 21 years later, on January 31, 1986.

Its service career having spanned August 1967 to March 1986, the first photos of the remains of
76-8697 at the Daikeien Amusement Park surfaced in 2002. This photo (link) shows the
aircraft, complete with shark mouth, landing at Gifu AB when with the 207th Sqn
in October 1985, at the time of that year’s TAC Meet. 

Starfighter Survivors in Taiwan

In the mid-1980s, following the end of their JASDF service careers, a total of 31 F-104Js (and six F-104DJs [see below]) were passed on, under the auspices of the United States, to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force. The F-104Js included one airframe for instructional purposes and at least seven for use as spare parts. Although sources differ on the subsequent identities of those aircraft, the eight in the chart below are reportedly still in existence.

Somehow RoCAF (Taiwan) Air Force F-104J 4519 (formerly JASDF 46-8596) ended up carrying
the spurious serial ‘4522’. In October 2012, the aircraft remained in good condition as part of
the collection at Wurih Army Barracks in Chenggong (Chengkung) township in the
municipality of Taitung (Taichung). (Photo: 玄史生 via Wikimedia Commons)

Last Known Locations of F-104Js Preserved in Taiwan

36-8526 / RoCAF 4505
(Delivered to JASDF July 22, 1963 / withdrawn from use May 25, 1983) Used for spares only, carries fake code ‘4526’ and is preserved on poles at Nanhua Reservoir theme park, Nanhua (link [2006 photo]). Also appears with F-104DJ photo on this 2010 blog posting (link, entry dated 2010.5.17)
Note: A special feature in the June 2023 issue of Kōkū Fan states that 4505 crashed into the sea off Hsinchu County following a mid-air collision on  Dec. 9, 1989, and that 36-8526 is 4526 displayed at the Military History Park in Jiji, Nantou County (see 36-8565).

36-8528 / 4502 
(JASDF Sept. 30, 1963 / June 1, 1983) Reportedly displayed at National Science and Technology Museum, Kaohsiung, coded ‘4303’ but see 46-8596 below.

36-8547 / 4547
According to the June 2023 issue of Kōkū Fan, was acquired for spares. Displayed at the School of Science and Engineering, National Defense University, Bade District, Taoyuan, since March 1, 1991.

36-8565 / 4506
(JASDF Dec. 27, 1963 / Jan. 25, 1984) Previously coded ‘4303’ as fake 62-12252 on display at Military History Park, Jiji, Nantou County. Photos appear in the same 2010 blog as mentioned above (link, entry dated 2009.9.29), on Tripadvisor (link, April 2017) and in this June 2017 travelog (link)
(See Note for 36-8526 above.)

46-8596 / 4522
(JASDF Apr. 30, 1964 / Nov. 21, 1984 [204th Sqn]) According to the June 2023 issue of Kōkū Fan, displayed as ‘4303’ at National Science and Technology Museum, Kaohsiung

46-8616 / 4514
(JASDF Sept. 28, 1964 / Nov. 21, 1984) At Kuejien Campus, Cheng Kung University’s Aerospace Science & Technology Research Center in Guiren (Gueiren), Tainan County

46-8618 / 4515
(JASDF Aug. 17, 1964 / Feb. 16, 1983 [202nd Sqn]) Having been at National Sun Yat-sen University, Kaohsiung, July 2007 (link) (link), according to the June 2023 Kōkū Fan, was moved to the Chia Yang Senior High School, Ching Shui, Taichung County, as an instructional airframe in June 2009. 

46-8645 / 4519
Displayed at Wurih Army Barracks, Chenggong (Chengkung) township, Taichung (Taitung) as ‘4522’. (See photos above and below)

Another view of the fake 4522, taken in October 2011. (Photo: 玄史生 via Wikimedia Commons)

Taken in October 1989 at Ching Chuan Kang (CCK) Air Base, which is located adjacent to
Taichung International Airport, these photos show (above) ex-JASDF F-104J 36-8528
when operated by the 7th “Grey Wolves” TFS and F-104DJ (the former 26-5004) in
the markings of the 28th TFS, 3rd Air Group, Republic of China AF.
(Photos: CCK-FOX [link] via Skywarriors Gallery [link])

The JASDF received a total of 20 two-seat F-104DJ Starfighters from August 1962 onwards. A total of six were eventually passed on to Taiwan, but the version is now poorly represented in its original country of operation. Although retired examples were resident for periods at Gifu and Iruma air bases, none of the survivors remain on a JASDF site and only three are intact.

(Photo [Old Car Center KUDAN, Naraha, Dec. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

Although an ignominious end for the first JASDF two-seat Starfighter, ‘001 at least remains largely intact. Flown for the first time (as 16-5001) from Lockheed’s Burbank facility in California on August 25, 1961, following reassembly by Mitsubishi its first flight in Japan (as 26-5001) was conducted from the company’s Komaki plant in Nagoya on April 27, 1962. The aircraft still bears the tail markings, albeit fading, of the 207th Sqn, the unit with which the aircraft was serving when its service career came to an end on April 18, 1986; a photo taken of the aircraft on approach to Gifu AB in November 1985 can be found here (link). From the latest November 1989 until around March 2003, this aircraft had been part of the Iruma AB collection (photo taken in November 2000 [link]). 

’005 in October 2000 during its time at Gifu AB. The aircraft was removed from display in
2004 and passed to the Old Car Center in June that year.

Two of the survivors, including ‘005 shown above during its time at Gifu AB, are at the Old Car Center in Naraha, which was within the area closed off following the March 2011 Fukushima Nuclear Power Plant disaster. Radioactive contamination caused by the disaster had been removed by 2014, and the Center reopened in March 2016. J-HangarSpace last checked the status of the example on the roof of the Kawaguchiko Motor Museum in 2014 (below), when the Zero Fighter Collection was once again open to the public for the month of August (please refer to Aviation Museum Report 7).

Having been placed there in May 1986, ’008 is still mentioned as an attraction at the park in Seiyo, Ehime Prefecture, on a municipal tourism website. The aircraft is now not surprisingly in poor condition and its removal was described as just a matter of time in the Japanese link, which dates from 2015. A satellite image shows the aircraft still out in the woods in September 2020 (link).

Sole Survivor in Taiwan

A total of six JASDF F-104DJs, one of which was used for spares, accompanied the F-104Js that were passed to the Republic of China (Taiwan) Air Force from July 1987. Details of the sole survivor are as follows:

JASDF	RoCAF	Last Known Location
36-5017	4595	Originally displayed on roadside in Shuili township, Nantou County. Appears with photos of an F-104J on this 2010 blog entry (link, entry dated 2010.5.21). According to the June 2023 issue of Kōkū Fan, was moved to make way for a bicycle lane in January 2017, now displayed at the National Yunlin University of Science and Technology, Yunlin County

F-104DJ ’005 on sunny and gloomy days in happier, more active times, when with Nyutabaru- 
based 204th Sqn on display at Tsuiki AB in November 1976 (above) and with the
207th Sqn on a visit from Naha to Nyutabaru AB in March 1981
(Photos: Takao Kadokami)

A pair of 204th Sqn Starfighters visit Tsuiki AB, November 1978. Later converted to UF-104J
drone standard, ‘698 is today on display at the JASDF Air Park. (Photo: Takao Kadokami)

Sadly, Lockheed T-33A 51-5612, a former resident at Shizuhama, Shizuoka Prefecture, was
scrapped in one fell swoop along with an F-86D, F-104J and a T-1 in March 2016.

The coloured areas of the Ashiya base collection T-33A, seen above in September 2000, had been
freshened up by October 2005 (link), only to have succumbed to the vagaries of the Kyushu
weather in the period up to October 2019 (link). Not surprising for an aircraft that 
has spent years outside after having been built in 1953 and on active
service with the JASDF from April 1955 to October 1965.
(In June 2021, a request for tenders anticipated the aircraft’s removal that autumn,
but the work was carried out [with the F-104J] late that August.)

(Iruma, Sept. 2012)

Seen here in November 1999, the T-33A still kept at Tsuiki AB has seen annual use as a
children’s climbing frame. (Photo: Takao Kadokami)

(Hyakuri, Dec. 2018) One of the T-33As supplied direct from the United States, ’629 passed into
JASDF hands in August 1955 and was placed in storage at Tsuiki after its withdrawal from use
in October 1965. At some stage initially displayed at Tsuiki, the aircraft was loaned to the
Yatsu Play Land in Narashino, Chiba Prefecture, in 1978, prior to taking up its long-term
residence at Hyakuri. For some time now sporting the 501st Sqn’s woodpecker tail
marking, the aircraft was previously adorned with the markings of the 206th/207th
(Starfighter) and 301st (Phantom) squadrons in the 1970s and 80s, respectively.

(Photo [Kawaguchiko Motor Museum, Aug. 2016]: Josephus37 via Wikimedia Commons)

This aircraft was reportedly still present at Kasuga in February 2019. (Photo taken in Sept. 2000)

(Photo [Miho AB, May 2017]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

T-33A 51-5663’s 10-year operational service life came to an end in October 1965. The date the
aircraft was added to the Gifu base collection is unknown.
(Photos: [Top] Oct. 2000; [above, Nov. 2023]: K太郎 via X @kekekeno_Ktaro)

The T-33A on display at Kakamigahara (seen here in October 2000) was first delivered to the
JASDF in November 1956 [link].

(Photo [JASDF Air Park, Oct. 2012]: Arjun Sarup)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1
Lockheed-Kawasaki T-33A 71-5279, Ukiha, Fukuoka Prefecture

Displayed at the Yoshii Sports Island recreation ground in the city of Ukiha, Fukuoka Prefecture, is this Kawasaki-built san-san ([T-]33[A]). Japanese sources state that the aircraft was delivered to the JASDF on July 16, 1957, finally retired on June 1, 1995, and donated to Yoshii-machi (the town that in 2005 was merged into Ukiha) in June 1996.

The signboards in front of the aircraft state that the airframe had been subjected to a total of 7,560 flight hours and that the Ukiha-Asakura Youth Air Group is (or was) responsible for the aircraft’s upkeep. Taken in March 2012, photos on a now defunct Yahoo blog indicated that a new coat of paint was applied at around that time. 

(Photos [April 2017]: Warren Hardcastle)

279 resting peacefully amongst the cherry blossom in April 2023. (Photo: 颯太 via X @_y4tty_)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 1A
Lockheed-Kawasaki T-33A 71-5293, Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture

(Photo [Aug. 2023]: aya01@長野県特地派遣隊 via X @aya01flt)

Typical of the more off-beat locations where former SDF aircraft are still to be found, this T-33A remains perched on a roof at the train station in Tachiarai, Fukuoka Prefecture. Installed when the former Tachiarai Peace Memorial Museum opened in 2004 in dedication to those who had lost their lives flying from the nearby wartime airfield, the aircraft remained when the museum moved to new premises in December 2008 and the building was refitted, reopening as the Retro Tachiarai Station Café in October 2009. The aircraft has worn the tail marking of the 304th Sqn, the unit with which it was last active, throughout its time at this location.

Delivered initially to the 6th Air Wing at Komatsu in June 1957, it is not until the 1970s that snapshots of this aircraft’s career path can be plotted.

At that time assigned to the Air Defense Command HQ Squadron, T-33A 293 is seen here
at Naha AB circa August 1973, the year after the United States had returned
Okinawa to Japanese sovereignty. (Photo: Akio Misawa)

The aircraft was with Air Defense Command HQ Squadron at Iruma in October 1976 (link).

In this photo seen trundling along a Tsuiki taxiway when with the 304th Sqn in July 1989,
293 was still based there in May 1990 (link), the month before its withdrawal from use.
(Photo: Takao Kadokami)

In between times, 293 was caught on camera in Air Defense Command HQ Squadron markings at Iruma in November 1984 (link) and Komatsu in March 1987 (link) as well as at Tsuiki when with the Flight Check Group in August 1985 (link).

(Above) The sun goes down at the end of another day for the T-33A perched at the Tachiarai Retro
Station Café at Tachiarai Station on the Amagi Railway Line in Chikuzen, Fukuoka Prefecture.
(Photo [Nov. 2015]: Soramimi via Wikimedia Commons)
The aircraft’s appearance had been greatly improved since its moss-covered days in 2010 (below).

(Photo [Jan. 2010]: Yakunashi via Wikimedia Commons)

Taken on charge in August 1957, T-33A 71-5296 was serving with the Komatsu-based 306th Sqn
when retired in August 1993. Having somehow ended up by the side of the road in the Koibuchi
district of Kasama, Ibaraki Prefecture, its fuselage seemed to already have been present there
 for some time in May 2018 (link). (Photo [posted Aug. 2019]: yoto2nd via Twitter @yoto2nd)

Having been on active service since December 1957, initially with the 2nd Air Wing
and then for the rest of its career with the Gifu test unit, T-33A 321 was retired in
June 1995. The Ishikawa Aviation Plaza opened in November of that year.
(Photo [posted July 2023]: のり via X @norinori_1977)

T-33A 323 was in service from December 1957 to March 1990, but only its forward fuselage remains.
For a time reportedly stored at a private location in Nishigasakicho, Chuo Ward, Hamamatsu City in
the early 2000s, the relic was purchased by the owner of the now defunct Airfield Café, who posted
these photos, but due to a lack of space presented to the Shizuoka Institute of Science and
Technology (SIST) in Fukuroi, Shizuoka Prefecture.
(Photos [undated]: Tujimon via X @orapo960)

(Photo [Nara AB, April 2013]: Hunini via Wikimedia Commons)

The composite T-33A that stands close to the exit of a car park at Nago Pineapple Park in Okinawa.
The aircraft was formerly displayed in an equally poor condition at a nearby military
surplus supplies store. (Photo [April 2014]: Yuichi Yokokawa)

(Photo [Minobu Town, Aug. 2020]: TAKA via Twitter @alice_herb, who uploaded other images of  
the private aircraft collection and a short video of their location here [link])

An unveiling ceremony was held on April 8, 2013, for the new addition to the forecourt at the
Bussankan Metase and adjoining Metase no Mori (Metasequioa Grove) farrmers’  market
store in the town of Chikujo, Fukuoka Prefecture. Operated from Tsuiki until 1992, the
aircraft (actually 91-5403) had previously been displayed at Soeda Park in
the prefecture’s Tagawa District.
(Photos [Top, Mar. 2020] via Twitter @ mokomoko58; [above, Feb. 2023] 颯太 via X @_y4tty_)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 2
Lockheed-Kawasaki T-33A 81-5340, Meda Forest Park, Izumo,
Shimane Prefecture

(Photo [posted Nov. 2021]: KarlHeinz@そろそろ復帰？ via Twitter @KarlHei40792117)

Perched on some high ground in a clearing in a nature experience park in the mountains, 81-5340 was delivered to the JASDF on March 15, 1958. The aircraft was withdrawn from use when with the Hamamatsu-based 35th Squadron, 1st Air Wing, on February 15, 1990, about a year before the unit’s disbandment. The aircraft has been on free loan from the JASDF since the mid-90s; the plaque in its wooded hideaway apparently provides only general type information. Compare the aircraft’s eerie appearance with that in a photo taken in August 2019 (link).

Ideally, this is a location best reached by car. Failing that, from Izumo-shi Station on the JR Sanin Line, taking the bus bound for Izumo-Susa to its final stop takes 40 minutes. From there, the uphill walk to the park will take about 30 minutes.

Meda Forest Park is generally open from 09:00 to 18:00 (admission, until 1700, 200 yen for adults), closed from mid-December to early March. The T-33A is placed on a hill about 200m from the gate with its nose pointing northwest.

(Photo [Apr. 2023]: させ坊 via Twitter @ShimaneSasebo)

Displayed Aircraft Special Report 3
Lockheed-Kawasaki T-33A 91-5410, Nyutabaru, Miyazaki Prefecture

The last of the 210 Kawasaki-built T-33As, ’410 was handed over to the JASDF at a ceremony held at Kawasaki’s Gifu plant on March 25, 1959. Four snapshots from its peripatetic existence during its squadron days are provided below.

(Photo [6th Sqn, Tsuiki, March 1967]: Takao Kadokami) 

Exact date unknown, but the aircraft wore the green tail marking of the Western Air Defense Force
HQ Support Flight Group to which it was assigned in the early 1980s.
(Photo: Ritmo via Twitter @LeicaS007)

While with the 301st Sqn at Nyutabaru in June 1989 (above) and November 1990
(Photos: Takao Kadokami)

Presumably having ended its career with the 301st Sqn, following its retirement from active service on May 31, 1991, the aircraft ended up with the Nyutabaru base collection.

(Photo [Nov. 1995]: Takao Kadokami)
(Photo [Nov. 1997]: Takao Kadokami)

(November 2000)

(Photo [July 2020]: JASDF Nyutabaru AB via Twitter @JASDF_Nyutabaru)

Also present in the Nyutabaru base museum is the tail of T-33A 91-5406. This aircraft was in service from February 28, 1959, initially with the 7th Sqn, to October 22, 1991, its last operator having been the 202nd Sqn. The latter’s marking graces the right side of the tail, that of the 301st Sqn the left side.

(Photo [Gifu AB, Mar. 17, 2021]: JASDF Gifu Provincial Cooperation Office via Twitter @gifupco)

This former 302nd TFS F-4EJKai is now displayed in an open area close to the Ibaraki airport
terminal building, opposite Hyakuri AB. The aircraft is due to receive a makeover:
see Bulletin Board, January 2022 (Photo: Tetsuya Otabe)

Void of any stencils, Naha AB’s now unfortunately replica-like F-4EJKai during the base’s summer
festival in August 2023. Having made its first flight on September 14, 1973, 37-8321 was handed
over to the JASDF that November and upgraded to F-4EJKai standard in June 1990.
Withdrawn from use in 2008, the aircraft had taken pride of place at Naha in November that year
(photo from December 2008 [link]). By October 2021, 321 (link) and the other aircraft in
the collection had long been in need of attention, and the resulting repainting project was
completed on January 1, 2023. (Photo: OKA@飛行機好き via X @oka_Boeing787)

In July 2023, a trolley-mounted Phantom cockpit mockup was installed at the Gifu AB PR Centre
as part of the facility’s renovation. Featured in a Gifu AB video posted on Twitter in December
2022 (link), 336’s cockpit frame and canopy at the very least were used as the basis for
the mockup, the instrument panel of which can be switched to night-flight mode.
(Photos [via Twitter]: [Top, Mar. 9, 2021] Tommy@Saudia @b777300erhnd;
[above, July 2023] JASDF Gifu AB @JASDF_GIFUAB)

(Photo [Chitose AB, Mar. 2021]: sho_1027 via Twitter @shoyamayama1027)

Having logged around 6,000 flying hours since January 17, 1975, the last flight of Nyutabaru’s
resident Phantom took place on November 28, 2007. Delivered to the JASDF on April 24, 1975.
the aircraft was upgraded to F-4EJKai standard  in July 1992 and placed on display on
October 30, 2008; according to its signboard it was the first Phantom to be retired.
(Photos, via Twitter: [Top, Oct. 2020]: JASDF Nyutabaru AB @JASDF_Nyutabaru;
[above, Dec. 2022] だおみーくん @DaomiKun)

F-4EJ 361 has been motionless at the place of its birth since at least September 2018 (link).
(Photo [Komaki AB, posted Feb. 2023]: マイテイ via Twitter @mighty0715)

Delivered to the JASDF in December 1975, 375 was serving with the 8th TFS at the time of its
retirement in 2009 and thus did not have to travel far when added to the Sky Plaza area at the
Misawa Aviation & Science Museum on January 29 that year. Completed in November 2021,
a repainting project on 375 transformed the aircraft from this in November 2020 (link) to
that below in December 2021. The contractual amount for the work was 2,035,000 yen.
(Photos: [Top, Dec. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle; [above, Nov. 2021] MH-38R via Twitter @38rMh)

Before being placed on display in October 2020, the Komatsu Phantom was given the tail
markings of the base’s long-standing Phantom units, the eagle’s head of the 306th on the
right and the dragon of the 303rd TFS on the left side.
(Photos, via Twitter Sept. 2022: [Top] のばらとかげ @Gecko440;
[above] 超TAKAHIRO @k66g66tmm)

(Above) As reported in a January 2020 Bulletin Board report, the former AD&TW
F-4EJ 87-8409 was towed to join the other aircraft in the Gifu base collection.
As shown below, the aircraft are very much open to the elements.
(Photos: [Top] JASDF Gifu AB; [above, Jan 2023] JASDF Gifu AB via X
[formerly Twitter] @JASDF_GIFUAB

The F-4EJKai at Bussankan Metase no Mori, a local produce store in the town of Chikujo,
Fukuoka Prefecture; see Bulletin Board entry for July 2021.
(Photo [July 30, 2021]: み。Skycloud最近野鳥多め飛 via Twitter @blue2impulse3)

(Above) At the end of its last ever flight, on March 15, 2021, former Air Development & Test Wing
F-4EJ 07-8429 comes into land at Tsuiki AB, where the aircraft was placed in store. The aircraft
bears the commemorative marking shown below on both engine intake splitter plates.
(Photos: [top] JASDF Tsuiki AB via Twitter @jasdf_tsuiki;
[above, taken at Gifu, Mar. 9, 2021]: Tommy@Saudia via Twitter @b777300erhnd)

07-8431 was poignantly placed on the Gifu runway for the Runway Walk event, Nov. 2021.
(See Bulletin Board story.)
This aircraft was moved into the Gifu-Kakamigahara Air & Space Museum in February 2023.
(Photos: [Top] ぎふのあやぢ＠50shoulder via Twitter @hijitukamen);
[above, posted Feb. 2024] 林信宏 via X [formerly Twitter] @rinkun360408)

17-8437 on the day of its installation at Hyakuri AB’s Yuhien display area
(See Bulletin Board, Jan. 24, 2022)
(Photo: 和父[Kazu-papa] via Twitter @Swordfi52449289)

(Above) Dignitaries take part in the tape-cutting ceremony held to mark Phantom 439 having
officially joined the ranks of the Miho base collection. (Below) A photo of the
aircraft with a less cluttered foreground.
(Photos [Top, Jan. 7, 2022]: Lt.Col.Sasuke via Twitter @ LtColSasuke);
[above, May 2023]: らぶらぶ via X [formerly Twitter] @mSEUJOi0Oel0ZGH)

Final Victims of Phantom Phase-out

Including the first and last examples, 14 of the 140 F-4EJ Phantoms built have survived as intact airframes. The end of a process that had been taking place over several years—here’s what was once 67-8389 looking decidedly down in the dumps at Nyutabaru AB in September 2015 (link)—saw a cull of many of the aircraft that had served up to the very end.

Having provided the unit’s final fanfare at the Hyakuri air show in December 2018, both of the
302nd Sqn Phantoms that had been given special sign-off markings were still present two years
later (link). Remembered for having been the JASDF 50th anniversary “Flying Banana”
Phantom when with the then Nyutabaru-based 301st TFS in 2004 (link), 399 was in the
end sighted on the base dump on June 28, 2021; the ultimate fate of 428 is unknown.
(Top photo: カメちゃんvia Twitter @kame_cvw_5)

“And-er now, the end is near . . .”  Final glimpse of an already engineless 399.
(Photo [posted Jan. 2022]: みーこ via Twitter @miikohitomi)

(Above and below) Ten years apart, two shots of one of the pair of ex-works McDonnell-Douglas
Phantoms that was delivered in July 1971 and initiated a type service career that finally came to
an end in March 2021. Shown above at Naha in December 2008, during its final assignment
with the 302nd TFS, the aptly numbered ’302 was resplendent in markings celebrating the
the 7th Air Wing’s 40-year association with the Phantom (markings originally sported
by 67-8388 in October 2012) when placed in the Yuhien at Hyakuri in April 2013.
The aircraft was still in good condition when the photo below was taken from
the less accessible right side in December 2018, but the aircraft was
dismantled and removed from display on January 17, 2022.
(See Bulletin Board story)

(Above) 37-8318 and 47-8327 sit among the trees on the south side of Gifu AB in November 2021.
According to the Sept. 22, 2021, bidding process, the deadline for their disposal had been set
at Dec. 24, 2021, but they were broken up around the end of January 2022. ’318 had been
flying up to March 2020. The markings on the engine intake splitter plate (below) are unidentified.(Photos: RF via Twitter @reconphantom501)

Not an art installation, merely the scene at the junkyard where 318 and 327 were broken up.
(Photo [posted Feb. 2022]: Naoki_O via Twitter @naoki_o_557)

Former 301st TFS Phantoms 57-8357 and ’367 at Hyakuri with (left) what appear to be the
likewise discarded blue underwing tanks once mounted on 302nd sayonara Phantom 07-8436.
(Photo [posted Jan. 7, 2022]: Norick@人見知り中 via Twitter @Norickapex1220)

When being transported on a low-loader trailer, the forward fuselage section (cut immediately aft
of the cockpit) of F-4EJ 67-8383 was passed on the Chuo Expressway near the city of Nagano
and later sighted at a parking area on the Kita-Kanto Highway in Ota, Gunma Prefecture.
One of around 12 aircraft that had been held in long-term storage at Komaki, it was
either on its way to a scrap dealer or into the hands of a private owner.
(Still from short video clip [posted Mar. 14, 2022]: BGY via Twitter @BGY11088695)

77-8393 (foreground) and 47-8336 were present on the north side of Gifu AB in Nov. 2021. With
some of its front fuselage panels removed, the badge on the splitter plate of ’393 contains a
Spook figure with FINAL PHANTOM CREW above and ADTW GIFU AB below. The
wording beneath the badge reads A Step Forward. The bid deadline for removing both
aircraft had been Dec. 15, 2021, but having last flown on Mar. 17, 2021, 336 was
dismantled in Aug. 2022. The cockpits of both aircraft have been put to nearby
use (see photos of 336 above). (Photo: Naoki_O via Twitter @naoki_o_0557)

Apparently all that remains of 87-8408, which was being cannibalized for spares in September 2018 (link), is the instrument panel, which was forming a key part of a cockpit display in the Hyakuri PR Center in June 2021.

In December 2020, there had been seven former 301st TFS aircraft awaiting their fate at Hyakuri: 57-8355/367, 67-8378, 77-8395, 97-8416 and 07-8434/437.

At the 2019 Hyakuri air show, it fell to the 302nd TFS to bring down the curtain on public
displays of low-level airfield beat-ups by Phantoms. The two aircraft specially painted for
that occasion were still present with their 301st TFS counterparts in that same photo
from December 2020 (link); likewise, neither was found a new home.
(Top photo: カメちゃんvia Twitter @kame_cvw_5)

Scrap Dealer Avoidance 1: Rush of Phantom Gate Guards

(Photo [Dec. 1, 2020] JASDF Hamamatsu PR Center via Twitter @jasdf_airpark)

Built by Mitsubishi, the 140th and last F-4EJ received by the JASDF is welcomed to Hamamatsu AB at the end of its final flight and at the start of its assured future as an exhibit at the base’s Air Park collection; the aircraft was placed on indoor display in March 2021. Known affectionately as 獅子丸 (shishimaru), a play on its four-four-oh serial number (shishi also being the guardian dog on the left side of the entrance to a Shinto shrine), the aircraft is one of five lucky Phantoms passed to JASDF bases for safekeeping in 2020.

A camouflaged shishimaru was part of the Komatsu-based 306th Sqn contingent at the 1984 TAC
Meet. The photo was taken at Hyakuri, from where the aircraft departed on its flight into a
long and happy retirement in December 2020. (Photo [Feb. 1984]: Akira Watanabe)

Scrap Dealer Avoidance 2: F-4EJKai Phantom 97-8427

One of the two former 301st Sqn Phantoms being prepped for the coming “battles” at the
Hyper Douraku Survival Game Paradise site under construction in Chiba Prefecture.
(Photo [June 2020]: DEFCON1 via Twitter @DEFCON_tactical)

Sammu, Chiba Prefecture. In the summer of 2020, visitors to a recreational area would have been surprised to come across the nose sections of two jet fighters near to its barbeque facilities and well-stocked fish ponds, which are both functional and ornamental. Rather than being converted to the lesser known F-4EJKoi version, these two former prides of the 301st Sqn fleet are among three (and an unidentified ex-JMSDF SH-60J) that now form part of the set at an adjoining survival game (known to its enthusiasts as airsoft) battleground. Having previously participated in air combat maneuvering at 30,000 feet, from September 2021 these three aircraft will be providing cover for “troops” engaged in ground-level mock combat akin to paintballing.

Four decades before, in May 1980, the 305th Sqn crew then assigned to ’427 brings the
aircraft safely back to base at Hyakuri. (Photo: Akira Watanabe)

A distant view (link) shows the scene on the 501st Sqn flight line on the last day of flying, March 9, 2020. The six aircraft that took part in the final flypast were RF-4EKai 47-6901/903/907/909 and RF-4EJKai 67-6380 and 07-6433; of those only 901 remains.

Having avoided being modified to the upgraded standard and being broken up for spares, this
RF-4EJ also graces the Aviation Plaza at Ibaraki airport, adjacent to its former base.
(Photo: Tetsuya Otabe)

47-6901 on the January 17, 2022, the day of its installation at Hyakuri AB’s Yuhien display area.
Resplendent in its blue camouflage scheme with final special markings, 901 replaced 906 only
to be repainted in something vaguely approaching standard tactical camouflage two months
later (photo from Dec. 2023 [link]). On the plus side, hopefully several canopies have
been retained as spares, to negate the need to paint them black.
(See Bulletin Board, Jan. 24, 2022 and May 2022)
(Photo: 和父[Kazu-papa] via Twitter @Swordfi52449289)

In service with the 501st Sqn from 1975 to 2009, the Hyakuri collection’s original RF-4EKai
had been on display for 12 years when replaced by 901 in January 2022.

Rejected RF-4EKai

(Photo [Jan. 2021]: takeofujioka via Twitter @takeofujioka)

(Above photo) One of the “final film”-marked RF-4EKai sits forlornly on Hyakuri AB’s answer to the cutting room floor. There has been a half-hearted attempt made to obliterate the originally McDonnell-Douglas engineer-designed “Spook” character on the engine intake splitter plate, around which had been added THANK YOU FOR YOUR SUPPORT. Also painted over has been the name of the aircraft’s crew chief above the DANGER INTAKE triangle. This aircraft was most likely 57-6909, seen here on Mar. 3, 2020 (link), six days before its and the 501st Sqn’s final flights.

On the occasion of the 501st Sqn’s final flights on March 9, 2020, two three-aircraft missions were flown. The aircraft launched in the morning were RF-4EKai 57-6907 and two RF-4EJKai (67-6380 and 07-6433). The final, all-RF-4EKai flight comprised 47-6901 and 903 with 57-6909. Of these, only 901 was retained, replacing 57-6906 in the Hyakuri AB collection in January 2022 (see above).

Although the earliest examples are now some 40 years old, an intact F-15J has yet to be preserved.
This piece of wreckage marks an embarrassing but extremely fortunate episode in the
annals of JASDF history. (Photo [Nov. 2019]: Warren Hardcastle)

On November 22, 1995, Capt. Tatsumi Higuchi of the Komatsu-based 303rd Sqn had been piloting 52-8846—seen here the previous month (link)—during an air combat manoeuvering (ACM) and simulated missile firing exercise, when his aircraft was shot down by an AIM-9L Sidewinder missile fired due to a technical fault on from his wingman’s aircraft (62-8870). Having ejected and successfully come down in the sea near Hegurajima, an island in the Sea of Japan 165km north of his home base, Capt. Higuchi was rescued by the crew of a passing fishing boat. Salvaged for the accident investigation, this part of the wreck somehow found its way to the Daikeien Amusement Park, Ichikawa, Chiba Prefecture.

Since 1983, a total of nine F-15Js and four F-15DJs have been lost in accidents that have claimed the lives of 10 pilots. Single tailfins from the aircraft involved in the two most recent F-15J incidents are now serving as base memorials.

September 11, 2008 (72-8883, 304th Sqn, Tsuiki AB [link])
Following an in-flight electrical system malfunction, the pilot fortunately managed to eject and survived.

July 5, 2011 (72-8879, 204th Sqn, Naha AB [link])
Salvaged by the JMSDF, the tail serves as a poignant memorial to the aircraft’s pilot, Lt. Col. (posthumously promoted to Major) Yuji Kawakubo, who is thought to have lost consciousness during a training mission over the ocean.

The F-4EJKai in the town of Chikujo, Fukuoka Prefecture, basks in the autumn sunshine
as an F-2 joins the circuit for a landing at the former Phantom base Tsuiki.
(Photo [Nov. 2021]: べとるーし via Twitter @benelli_t)

(Photo [Aviation Plaza, Ibaraki Airport, Mar. 2024]: TAKA via X @alice_herb)

Fixed-Wing Types continued in Part 2