Memory about Japan

A Birthday Party at The U.S. Air Force Base Yokota, Japan (Part 1)

Visit a country within a country

Military bases are very far from my life and have never been my travel destination. But while I was in Japan, I accidentally visited the U.S. Air Force Base Yokota.

At the end of September 2006, my son received a birthday invitation from his friend N in kindergarten. N is an American boy whose father was a pilot at the U.S. Air Force Base Yokota.

For most Japanese, the Yokota base is a solemn and mysterious place. This is a country within a country, this is America on Japanese soil. Without special permission, ordinary people are not allowed to come and go at will.

The human mind is like this, the harder it is to get, the more it stimulates curiosity. So, when the children received N’s invitation, their mothers seemed even more excited than their children.

Even though the birthday party won’t take place until two weeks away, the mothers have already run to tell each other when to meet.

The party was set for October 14th (N’s ​​birthday). It happened to be Saturday.

In Tokyo in mid-October, the sweltering summer is finally over. The sun rays are no longer dazzling, but transparent and clear like crystal. Fresh and pleasant autumn is here.

When I woke up this morning, I saw that under the blue sky and white clouds, the originally pale-yellow broad-leaved forest had been covered with a layer of flickering golden light.

What a day for a party!

Mother A whose daughter H was also invited by N and warmly invited us to take her car to the base. I readily agreed. The party will start at noon, but we must be at the base’s entrance by 11.

After 9.11, the base strengthened personnel inspections. At the same time, permits for outsiders to park at the base were canceled. So, we had to park in the parking lot near the base and walk to the entrance of the base where we could apply for an entry permit.

Mother A said an hour might be too short to get a permit. She and N’s mother are good friends, so she has been invited to the base many times and seems to be very experienced.

Our group set off at 10 in the morning. From Kunitachi, where I live, we drove northwest for about forty-five minutes to reach Fussa Station close to the base. We parked there and walked towards the base.

Along the way, people with American accents passed us, and American stores popped up on the street. We walked down a street and saw a huge stone sign for “U.S. Air Force Yokota Base”.

Behind the signboard is an endless plain.

Wow! This is the famous base!

The entrance management office of the base is very lively, and there is an endless stream of people coming in and out. Didn’t know when it would be our turn.

I looked around curiously and saw man-height barbed wire erected around the management office, which ran deep along the edge of the base.

The imaginary guards with guns did not appear. Only a few staff members in blue uniforms and bowler hats of the same color stood at the base gate.

The base is so large that the edges cannot be seen at a glance. It’s called an air force base, but not even the shadows of the planes can be seen. All you see is a huge open space, presumably an airport runway. Among them are many lawns.

What caught my attention was the patchwork of large semicircular buildings. The building is closed so no one can see inside. Guess this is the hangar, there must be those well-structured and skilled warriors hidden in it.

While sighing that the vastness here is incompatible with the narrowness of Japan, I heard someone call us that it is our turn to go through the formalities.

A young American couple introduced themselves as L and J and greeted us as representatives of the N family. Under their guidance, our group of adults and children entered the office.

There were already a few people waiting there, and with our large team, the small office became overwhelmed all of a sudden.

We were asked to hand over our IDs, took pictures in sequence, and then retreated to the corner to wait. The procedure was easier than expected, and the staff inside were all Japanese, they were all very friendly, but we got to wait for a long time.

I don’t know how long we waited to finally get the permit.

It was a postcard-sized piece of paper, indicating the names of the applicant and the inviter, and the time of entry and exit. Of course, the mugshot they took of me before is also pasted in the lower right corner.

Looking at my watch, it was already 11:45. I was secretly thankful that we were able to get to the party on time. However, what I didn’t expect was that there was still quite a long distance from the base gate to N’s house.

The American couple who came to greet us drove a medium-sized car and a small car each. After about 15 minutes of driving, a residential area appeared on the side of the road.

Most of the buildings in the residential area are two stories high and the exterior walls are painted pale yellow. Between the buildings is a huge open space with green grass and towering trees.

We finally arrived at the home of N! The birthday party is about to start!

Thank you for reading! This is the 1st part of my experience at the U.S. Air Force Base Yokota, Japan.

To be continued... 😃

I like the story about Toronto by Nishan Fuard. In his travel notes, there are always some details of daily life that we don’t usually pay attention to. Reading his story, you will feel that our daily life is also full of comedy.

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