US military in Japan not disclosing info on flights despite noise, accident concerns

TOKYO -- Information on flight courses of U.S. military aircraft in Japan continues to remain largely hidden from the Japanese public as U.S. Forces Japan cites "military operations" and "information security" as reasons for withholding information in spite of noise complaints and concerns about accidents.

The forces and the Japanese government have seldom disclosed the flight courses and other details of the U.S. military training to local governments and other parties that have requested the information. Behind this lies the U.S. forces' reluctance to share information with the Japanese government, as well as a bilateral agreement to effectively withhold information regarding U.S. military aircraft activities.

Reasons for not responding to questions

Many complaints are about noise pollution and oscillation caused by the U.S. military aircraft's low-altitude flights, as well as worries about their possible crashes. These complaints are shared with the U.S. military by way of the Japanese Ministry of Defense, which fields citizens' and local bodies' concerns. For many years, the U.S. military had responded to each and every inquiry as to whether the aircraft that caused such complaints belonged to them upon inquiry from the Defense Ministry. However, it stopped doing so in principle in August 2017, citing "operational reasons." Japanese authorities have since been unable to accurately keep track of the U.S. military's problematic flights.

This response was notable in connection with a series of sightings of aerial refueling by U.S. military planes above the Kofu basin in Yamanashi Prefecture, west of Tokyo, in 2022. In-flight refueling is technically difficult and has caused crashes in the past, and a Japan-U.S. agreement dictates that the training be done above the ocean. The U.S. military, however, did not acknowledge the Kofu refueling to the Japanese government until about six months later. Furthermore, it admitted to only one case, which it had already posted on the military's publicity website with a photo of refueling and a comment saying it was conducted near Mount Fuji. The U.S. forces declined to provide information on other refueling cases, saying that from an operational perspective, they would not answer every question.

Memorandum between Japan and US

In October 2020, the U.S. military stopped sharing information on incoming Osprey transport aircraft with local governments, again citing similar reasons. A memorandum the Japanese government and U.S. forces in Japan signed in 1975 has also played a part. It basically states that neither the Japanese nor U.S. government will announce matters concerning individual U.S. military aircraft activities without mutual consent.

This rule covers flight plans showing flight areas and other details, communication logs, and the ALTRV, or Altitude Reservation, system that excludes civilian aircraft from entry into certain airspace reserved for U.S. military aircraft training and flights.

The memorandum was exchanged during a meeting of the Japan-U.S. Joint Committee, where the Japanese government and the U.S. military hold closed-door consultations over the operation of U.S. forces in Japan. In 1984, then House of Representatives lawmaker Kamejiro Senaga of the Japanese Communist Party (JCP) raised a question in the Diet about the status of ALTRV above areas around Okinawa, and a senior transport ministry official refused to explain, citing an agreement in the memorandum, thus uncovering the presence of the airspace arrangement.

During a 2019 Diet question and answer session, lower house member Keiji Kokuta of the JCP read out a copy of the memorandum that he had obtained, and the Japanese government acknowledged the presence of the document, leading to the revelation of the details of the accord.

Past accidents

There have been a spate of accidents and other trouble involving U.S. military aircraft in Japan. In 2017, a window fell off from a U.S. military transport helicopter onto the playground of Futenma No. 2 Elementary School in Okinawa Prefecture; in 2018, a U.S. fighter jet and aerial refueling craft collided with each other and crashed off Cape Muroto in Kochi Prefecture; in 2019, a U.S. fighter jet dropped a mock bomb weighing about 230 kilograms on a private land lot in the village of Rokkasho, Aomori Prefecture; and in 2023, a CV-22 Osprey aircraft crashed off Yakushima Island in Kagoshima Prefecture.

(Japanese original by Hiroyuki Oba, Tokyo City News Department)