Japan’s Blue Impulse aerobatics highlight Churashima Air Festival

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Flybys and aerial aerobatics steal the show on Saturday and Sunday at Naha Airport.

Performances of the Blue Impulse, the aerobatic team of the Japan Air Self Defense Force, will be the highlights of the Churashima Air Festival to be held at the JASDF Naha Air Base on Sat. Dec. 10, and Sun. Dec. 11.

JASDF and Japan’s Coast Guard aircraft is on static display during the Churashima Air Fest.

Admission to the festival is free and it opens at 10:00 on both days. The festival closes at 19:00 on Saturday and 16:00 on Sunday.

For those who’ve never seen a Japanese military air show, the festival is something special to see. The JASDF Naha Air Base is adjacent to Naha International Airport, with which it shares the runways.

The program includes overhead flights of various Japan Air Self Defense Force and Japan Coast Guard aircraft, both rotary and fixed wing. The fly-bys start at 14:00 and continue through 15:00.

The Blue Impulse aerobatic flight show takes place from 15:05 to 16:30 on both days.

Children will have their own space.

A F-15 night flight projection mapping show is scheduled for Saturday only from 18:20 to 18:30.

No military show is complete without static displays of military equipment, and that’s true for the Churashima Air Festival. Military displays from the Ground Self Defense Force, Maritime Self Defense Force and Air Self Defense Force will be open to the public to look, touch and take pictures. Oroku High School Band is scheduled to play on the tarmac in front of the hangar on Saturday morning, while the JASDF Southwestern Naha Band performs a show on the stage in the afternoon.

Local performers will take the stage on Sunday.

There is no parking at the Naha Air Base venue. Visitors must park at Naha Military Port and take a free shuttle bus to the festival. Military organizers say portable chairs and pets are not permitted at the air show.