How Atsugi Came to Be

What's a US Naval Base doing in Japan, you might ask?  

Why is this naval base in the middle of Japan?   

Well, here's a little bit about where I work and about the Base:

MISSION: 
NAF Atsugi is considered a "Joint Base" with 51% of the base considered to be run and operational by the Japanese Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF), while the minority of the base, 49%, is considered to be for the US Navy. The base was originally built by the Japanese Imperial Navy in 1938 and was named the Emperor Hirohito's Naval Air Base.

The US's presence on main land Japan began soon after August 15, 1945, when Japan announced its unconditional surrender. Fifteen days later, General Douglas MacArthur landed with 8,000 troops at Atsugi to accept the formal surrender of Japan and assume the duties as military Governor of Japan.



Since March 2013, Heidi and I have been living in Yamato, Japan and I've been working at US Naval Air Facility (NAF) Atsugi.  I work at the "Branch Health Clinic" here on base. Our main command/"boss" that the health clinic resides under is Yokosuka Hospital, in Yokosuka, Japan.  Yes, there is water there and Yokosuka is where the USS George Washington Carrier is stationed for most of the year.

We are living in the heart of the Kanto Plain on the main island of Japan: Honshu. Our "state" or Prefecture is  Kanagawa, but we live on the boarder with Tokyo Prefecture.
We were very fortunate to find a lovely home to rent and enjoy our year in Japan!

INTERESTING HISTORY: 
While the base is named "Atsugi" it's really located in the the city of Ayase and boarders the city of Yamato.  When the base was first created by the Japanese, Atsugi was the closest "big town" nearby the air strip and so the name stuck.

While this is a Navy Base,  there's no large body of water nearby - hence no ships.  Instead the Naval Air Facility is home to the several squadrons of jet planes and helicopters that serve on the USS George Washington Aircraft Carrier and to a larger extent the Carrier Air Wing FIVE. 

We even have a haunted tree here on base! (more about that on a future post.)