Ruins of the US Air Force Base in Fuchu, Japan
The abandoned US Air Force (USAF) base in Fuchu is a vine-slathered memento from the early days of Japanese/American war and peace, built shortly after World War II and abandoned in the 1980′s. Part of it was cut off and made into a public park, part cut out and transformed into the the still-active nearby Japan Self-Defence Force (SDF) Base, and part left behind, slowly falling into ruin, for nature to claim as her own.
New antenna, old antenna in Fuchu Air Base.
Fuchu was an Air Base vital for re-supply and communications during the Vietnam and Korean Wars. Two giant parabolic dishes once loomed at one end of the runways, looking over a bustling base where the wounded frequently came back hot from war-zones overseas.
Now those huge twin dishes bob like hole-riddled yachts on a sea of green jungle, rusted red and half-eaten by the passing decades. Beneath them roads swim with weeds and trees shot up through the cracks, and barracks buildings glisten with waterfalls of rushes and creepers, windows and doors barely peeping through the shadowy gaps.
Double paraboles.
I’d been to this base before. The first time was in 2004, days before I first left Japan, along with a fellow teacher very early in the morning. I’d heard about the base from local students- some who’d been inside, others who’d heard of people going in and shooting movies then getting ushered out with light warnings by local police.
We left at dawn and walked to the base- through the park and past the current Japan SDF base that both used to be part of the American Base. We hopped a low fence easily and explored – through the long barracks buildings, to the 2 huge rusted-red satellite dishes, climbed up to their tops, in their control stations, all without any real concern of trespassing or being caught. I took photos with my feeble camera phone, none of which I still have, and somehow managed to forget a long-sleeved T-shirt in one of the rooms. I blogged about the voyage in an extremely vague way on my then-blog at Live Journal.
Just 4 of around 11 barracks buildings.
Dishes from Google maps.
The functioning antenna at right, more wrecked buildings in the middle.
Shortly after that, I got into a brief communication with a retired USAF captain who was stationed with the 5th Air Force in Fuchu from 1961-1966. I asked him for some details on the base, and described to him the gloriously overgrown nature of the base as was. He described to me the wonderful nature of the relations the USAF had with the JSDF, and some of his memories of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics. He said there was a new law made called the ‘Cinderella Law’, which meant all military had to be off the streets from midnight to 6am- one supposes to stop them from carousing with the locals. However- since the relationship between the base and the locals was so strong in Fuchu- the law was not enacted there.
I returned the next time in the summer of 2008, in the middle of the day. I was far more cautious, since my research on the web had shown that the base was not actually fully abandoned- the 2 huge parabolic dishes and all of the barracks were, but one large communications antenna (350 feet tall) was still in active use.
I began by walking the circumference of the base, trying to decide if I was foolhardy enough to enter. I walked around the base maybe 3 times, taking photographs from the outside, checking the integrity of the fences, mulling over the possibilities. I hung out in a park for several hours trying to decide if it was worth it. At stake was possible deportation if caught, if not absconsion to prison or some huge fine. I weighed the pros and cons in my head back and forth for a long time, while watching video podcasts about the coming US election, Obama vs. McCain, and taking photos of the Base through the fence.
They’re really huge.
After waiting for some time with one eye on the base’s fence, I saw a car driving on the interior. Not inside the section for the large antenna, which was re-fenced from the abandoned section, but actually inside the abandoned section. I chased the car from outside but failed to determine where it went, or exited. But that mostly decided it for me. If caught within the bounds of the base- I thought the punishment would be severe. Last time I was protected by my ignorance and the fact I was leaving Japan within days.
You can see the tire-tracks here, in low-sections of grass surrounded by overgrown buildings.
This time I wasn’t ignorant, nor did I have any desire to leave. Still, I couldn’t bear to leave without getting inside.
So I went inside.
The same fence I climbed over the last time was still low and accessible. I waited nearby until it got dark, lingering like a burglar casing a mark, already feeling the tension of the hunt. Standing beside the dark fence, peering into the gathering dark glooming around the ivy-wrapped barracks buildings, I strained to hear the slightest indication that there were guards patrolling inside.
As anyone who’s strained to hear something at night knows- there’s lots to hear. Lots of strange clicks, drips, scurrying sounds, and the occasional thump echoed out of the darkness. Each I worried over, wondering what kind of creature clicked, or which thumped. Each could be soldiers, creeping up on me, waiting for me to make the mistake.
At last, it reached the point where I was freezing, and the shame of going home with nothing at all finally overawed my fears of getting caught, and I stepped up to the fence, and did what was necessary.
The old story
In the first version of this post- I was so concerned about this trespassing that I didn’t admit to it at all. Rather I wrote the following-
So I turned around, and walked away.
However- afterwards I searched the net, made another contact, and managed to get hold of some photos from INSIDE the base from an anonymous source. My source described entry by night, feeling constant tension and fear of being caught, climbing the huge parabolic dishes, and finally exiting in a hazy blur.
None of which is true. Probably no-one was fooled anyway, and probably no-one cared, but still, it made me feel that little bit more comfortable at the time.
On to the real story, then, as remembered 3 years later, in Dec 2011.
The real story
Over the fence, and in. Guilty. I ran at once for cover, the nearest of the many long barracks buildings. In the darkness I had to fight my through the entangled ivy and leaves, getting dripped all over by the sodden undergrowth. Just ahead, barely iluminated by the moonlight, something went bang.
I froze, contemplated throwing myself bodily into the morass of vines. Instead I went statue-still, waiting for the US patrolmen to come arrest me. Waiting.
Nothing more. I creep forwards. I see a rusty old door blowing in the wind, occasionally thumping against its buckled frame.
Breathe out, relax, and into shelter.
And so like that.
Once inside, I felt comfortable enough to cautiously use my flashlight. Empty concrete halls, wires and pipes gouged and hanging down from above. Underfoot there were regular holes in the middle of the corridor- some kind of maintenance ducts to the basement- for some reason left dangerously open when the place was shut down.
I shuddered at the thought of a more-cautious-me, one who didn’t turn the flashlight on, and who walked brazenly into one of them. I’d have fallen straight through, probably whacked my hip on the edge, then possibly fallen right through.
Ouch. One of the hazards of haikyo.
I skirted them carefully, and started bobbing in and out of rooms, snapping photos with flash. Empty bedrooms, water-damaged, some with their wooden-frame ceilings coming down, some with hangars still in the closets. Who had stayed here, for how long? What war-zone had he or she returned from? How did it feel to be in such a foreign country, surrounded by men and women who until recently had been sworn enemies.
Mottled walls and rusting hangers.
Roofing rafters visible after the plaster has come down.
Here the rafters themselves have fallen- tumbled by time and rot.
Plaster-strewn stairs.
I felt like I was walking through a plane thick with memories, ghosts, as if I could just listen hard enough, I might be able to hear them.
My heart raced. I moved on.
At times padding down that first long barracks, I thought I heard voices outside, saw lights coming towards me. Had I tripped some silent alarm, and now they were coming for me? Would they think me a terrorist after the existing antenna, and shoot on sight?
I continued on in that mindset. Stepping out of the barracks at the end felt crazy, like I was just asking to be sniped, like taking a deep breath and diving off a sinking boat into the ocean, with no way back and the prospect of a long swim ahead to safety.
The only way out was through.
I entered another barracks, and repeated the long process, entering ad exiting at random, as the whim took me, drawn to see as much as possible. Soon I was thoroughly lost. A few hours passed like that, flying by in adrenaline and excitement as I walked around with all senses pitched to the max, attuned to every little sound around me. Regularly I leaped off the game-trails beaten through the tall grass, into the near-pitch-black cover of overhanging trees bowed down with creeping ivy. I ducked and weaved as though approaching an enemy encampment.
My goal was the great parabolic dishes. I’d climbed them before, and at that time I’d left behind one of my favorite T-shirts, by accident. I wanted to get it back.
At the back of one of the barracks was a forest, and I dived into it, moving by memory, tracking the ghost of my younger self. Like a Blair Witch victim I stumbled around, until at last amongst the dark bamboo thickets I nearly walked into a rusted metal support stanchion. I looked up, and through the foliage above could make out the outline of one of the great curved antenna against the sky.
Wow. Big.
I strafed around it, heading into the command cab next to it, where I’d left my shirt. No sign of it, though. I scanned through the pages of technical specifications, now left lying around like autumn leaves on the floor. In and out of desks, my heart still racing. Soon. Surely somebody would come soon. I had been here 4 years ago, and nothing had changed. If I closed my eyes, I could almost see the person I was then, the dreams I had banked on.
Smashed-off dial of a safe.
Banks of HIGH VOLTAGE gear in the comm hub.
A book filled with tech specs.
Back outside and standing at the foot of the parabolic ladder, heading up through the foliage and into plain sight in the sky, I gulped. Then I stuck my courage to the screwing place, and began the climb.
Up, up. Who knows how rusted this metal is. Swaying. Up.
To the top, and a view over the dead dark base around me. Beyond that, the roads of Fuchu, my old town. Lights and people and memories. No signs of pursuit, no black-hawk helicopters sweeping the grounds with floodlights.
Nobody knew I was here. Nobody cared.
Beneath a red steel sky.
Night-visioned to orange, from one dish to the other.
After that, I could calm down. I was already exhausted from the adrenaline high of the past several hours. It was dark, I was tired, and ready to go home.
I climbed down, and fought my way back through the woods. In a corner near to the station, I climbed over another fence. People might see, but I was coming out, and when coming out I hardly care if I’m seen.
Out. Back on the street, cool wind on my face, legs burning with excitement, filled with a kind of sense of accomplishment that doesn’t really make any sense, if properly examined.
I’d passed some kind of test, perhaps. Perhaps a crazy one, a senseless one, but one that had really put me through the wringer anyway.
Walking away, buying a 100yen orange juice on the way back to the station, I promised myself- “Never again.”
To see me break that promise- take a look at my explore of the abandoned Tachikawa Air Force Base a few years later.
Would you like to see photos from Fuchu Air Base’s heyday? You can see them here.
You can see more ruins here-
Was C.O. of The 421st APRON from June 60 to June 63 . A super fine outfit . Great team work . I feel this was one AP unit of the USAF that was very unusual . Was an honor to have had the privledge to have been this part of history. Would like to hear from any former 421 bst Air Police of the 1960–1963 period. Robert A. Smoak , Col, U( Ret) ( bbsmoak@comcast.net )
I was all ways eating at the bowling alley snack bar at fuchu. All ways ordered a blt with no bacon, (20 cents). Polished a lot of gems at the hobby shop. Sure was a lot to see around there. Used to go camping at Tama park. 1970-73
Ken, the Fuchu bowling alley had the best cheeseburgers and fries in the world. I was there in 1974…end of that year, I moved over to Yokota…what a change…not for the better! Tama Hills was a cool place back in those days…went/camped there a few times myself. Thanks for the memory.
I was stationed at Fuchu Army Ordnance Depot. 1953 – 1954. The Depot was then moved to Tokorozawa Ordnance Depot, an airfield that had hangers and other buildings shot full of holes in our attacks on Japan. That Depot was also closed in the 60s.
There was a Shrine in Fuchu where as legend held, pilots that were captured after Doolittle’s raid on Tokyo (Thirty seconds over Tokyo, Van Johnson) were executed there by beheading. Of course we boycotted that Shrine whether the story was true or not.
I was stationed at Fuchu from 1976 to 1978 as an Autovon tech
Was stationed at Fuchu 56-58, 16th Comm Sqd in TTY maintenace. Stayed in for 20 and think that this was my best assignment.
I was at Fuchu w/ 56 Comm Gp. (’73) then 5th AF and 56 Comm Gp (Kanto Consolidation) consolidated to Yokota. I agree with an earlier post, was the best time in the AF being stationed in Fuchu. I still call it home.
Also was in Teletype Maintenance
I was at Fuchu Air Station in Feb of 1957 till Aug 1958. I was in the 1sr comm, the duty was great. I was a teletype operator . It was a great 18 months. Our barricks was next door of the bowling alley, great place to hang out.
I was stationed at Fuchu in ’67 and ’68 as a Crypto technician and loved every minute of it. The environment was not “military” at all. We even had a “Mama San” clean our room for us. We never worked more than 8 hours a day, and spent most of our free time climbing Mt Fuji or checking out Tokyo and the surrounding area. Beautiful country & beautiful people.
Terry,
Your name is familiar. Do you remember who you worked for/with
? On my shift was Doug Meeks, Bill Malone (Who made a post earlier); only names I can dredge up from my shift. Dan Jaynes, Charlie Lefczuk, Bob Plummer, Charlie Otto, Mike Snyder, all other guys in the shop.
The only names that ring a bell are Mike Snyder and Doug Meeks, but my memory is not what it used to be. When were you there & what was your job?
I was there 67-69 in Crypto Maint. Doug Meeks was my first shift super, Bill Malone the 2nd. when I first got there MSgt Wotte was the NCOIC, TSgt Don Horn in the front office, SSgt Simpson was the training guy. I think it was MSgt Griffee who replaced Wotte. SSgt Jim Bunting was a shift super. I think you were on a different shift than I was. Remember the big earthquake around 68, that knocked out power. I think the epicenter was up around Misawa. I was in the Airmans Club bar when it hit. Bottles were clinking all over the place.
LM
I remember several earthquakes while I was there. Not sure exactly when, but one in particular stays in my memory because it had stuff in my room falling to the floor and almost knocked me out of my bunk.
My first husband and I worked on Fuchu 1968-71. He was a communications officer w/1956 CommGp, and I worked for the Univ. of Maryland, Far East Division. Our years there were great…. both the location, the US and Japanese people.
I WAS STATIONED AT FUCHU FROM MARCH 1954 WITH THE 5TH AACS
I&M SQ. IN 1956 WE MOVED TO YAMATO AIR BASE AND BECAME THE
1885TH E&I SQ. i SPENT MOST OF MY FREE TIME IN TOKYO WERE I HAD
A SMALL APT.(NO UNIFORMS) i MET OTHER WHO WERE DOING THE
SAME. WE STILL SEE EACH OTHER.WE WERE KNOWN AS THE GINZA
BOYS. WE HAVE BEEN MENTIONED IN A BOOK OR TWO.I LOVE MY TIME
IN JAPAN AND THE SQ I WAS IN WE A GREAT CO.LT COL NOONAN.
What a great blog! Happened on it by chance, looking for info on the base I lived at as a kid. My dad was stationed there in ’71 or ’72 and we were there till ’74, when we went to Yokota briefly before he retired in early 1975. his name was Col. Pierce Mounts, US Army, and I think he was involved in the USFJ turnover of the Ryukyu Islands. If anyone remembers him I would love to hear from you! Some names i dimly remember (and I apologize if I mis-state ranks – I was only a little kid!) there was Col Pursley, General Jim Davis…and of course the rest escape me now. The pictures are amazing – so sad to see it just rotting away! I remember playing in the park in the middle of the base – there were a couple of abandoned bldgs even at that time that we kids would play in. And every evening we’d stop playing and salute the flag as it was lowered. Wow…memories…
moved from kunia to fuchu in 63. workd in 1956 comm. worked in notam facility. was only 5 of us in the
shop. done pretty much as we pleased. hung out at the bar kay downtown and listened to country music.
enjoyed the tour. went to raf mildenhall from there,prefered fuchu.
I was station at Fuchu from April 1953-April 1956…..was a Tech Controller
in the 1956th AACS Sqn. Great place to serve.
Was stationed at Fuchu from June 1966 to Dec 1967 before being moved to Grand Heights. Worked at the AMT at Tokyo Int. Airport [Haneda] and we travelled from Fuchu to the airport daily. I have many photos of Fuchu and the airport flight line and have written of my two year stay in Japan which I enjoyed very much. Would like to correspond with anyone who may have been at Fuchu during that time.
George, I was at Fuchu 1961-1963, would appreciate any photos of fuchu that you may have. please send to jbodiford@nc.rr.com
George, I was stationed with Jim Bodiford at Fuchu in 1961-1963 and I would like to see some of your photos of Fuchu. I think that was my best assignment in my 20 yrs in the USAF. It’s a shame and sad to see the ruins of that BASE. I guess the Japanese Gov’t didn’t care to use it as their small Base Operations
site and just left it for the dogs and even the dogs didn’t want to live in it either.
The Fuchu Bowling Alley had the best “Hamburger or Cheeseburger” for 50 cents that I ever tasted and I haven’t found one anything like that since I left Fuchu. I told my wife that I wshed that I had the chance of learning the secrets
of that recipe. It beats Big Mac, Wendy’s, or Fat Jack-in-the-box. Isn’t that right, Jim Bo? See you and keep on smilin……Joe Steen
George, I got carried away about the hamburgers in Fuchu and forgot to give you my email address…..sonnybullit42@yahoo.com
Thanks, George and keep on smilin……
Hey Joe. You are so right about the Burgers at Fuchu Bowling Alley. Also, the Airman’s Club had a pretty good Pizza, which went well with the 10 cent Beer, (Black Label as I remember). And….as far as good food goes, the “midnight chow” at the mess hall was as good as I have ever had. I’m getting hungry, see you later.
Jim Bo
I am trying to get in touch with Mike Mahar from Rumford Maine. Mike, I got your e-mails with photos . I’ve responded a couple of times but I trust to never got them. Would you please send me your e-mail address. Mine is fbrazell@verizon.net. Frank
Was stationed at Fuchu between 1978 and 1984 as a Tech Controller. It was a great assignment, probably the best. Got married in Tachikawa. Loved going to Tokyo and Shinjuku. Climed Mt. Fuji 3 times
Hi Dave, I don’t know if you remember me but I remember you…It was a great assignment, fond memories of being there. One of my best assignments too.
Yes, of course I remember you, Mr QC guy. I forget John’s last name at the moment. Do you know where Darryl Brooks is? Anyways, I am with Verizon now, was originally hired on with MCI, but with all the mergers and such, I am ow with Verizon. I live in Orlando, Fl and have for the last 26 years. Have two adult offsprings and married to my second wife. I am a Grandfather to a 1 year old. I had always said that if I could work the same job over in Japan as a Tech Controller, but not be in the military, it would be the best. So, how are you doing?
I was stationed at Fuchu from Sept. of 1979 until Sept. 1982, The big parabolic antennas were actually from the old Tropospheric radio link to Misawa A.B. I was there as a Tech. Control specialist working the Autovon switch and special circuits.
I haven’t heard Autovon in over 40 years! My dad, Bill Wentz Sr., was a test engineer for some secret stuff for the 5th Air Force at Fuchu during the war years. He was in charge of the guarded area and the equipment. He climbed the existing tower that was built around 1969 and I climbed it at night when it was brand new. Do you know Barry Swain? Sandy Swain?
What I am saying is my dad was ” The Test Engineer” that got that equipment going. He did 3 months of special ” schooling’ before we went to Japan. It was guarded by armed AP’s with M-16-s.
I was at Tachikawa 1965-1967…Best duty I ever had….I would like to hear from anyone who was there at that time…
I worked in the Fuchu Aeronautical Station (Airways) from 1973 until our move to Yokota. When Fuchu was down sizing they moved us from the dorms to the BOQ buildings up in the 800 area on he back side of the Air Station…felt like a king with a living room, bedroom and kitchenette..a single NCO’s paradise. Remembered the cafeteria turned into a mexican resturant at night.THe softball field accross from the NCO Club had a building in right field and a light pole about 6 feet out in right field (covered with matresses in case anyone Mura a few times to visit friends.
THwy moved us to dorms on Tachi and still commuted to Fuchu to work until they re-located our Aeronautical sttion to Yokota, lived on Tachi untilI PCS’d in June 75i
Was stationed at Fuchu from 1965 to 1968. Worked for the 1956 communications Group. Assigned to the Command Center working under Gen. Seth McKey. My Flight was “D” in the command center lead by Sgt Armstrong. Was on duty during the seizure of the Uss Pueblo in 1967. Teletype, IBM, and airborne crypto communications.
I am a Japanese who was born and raised in Fuchu. This base is nearby my home. I have been alway curious about what those two dishes are for, and I am glad that I came here to find out. I am also very glad to know that the American servicemen who once worked there keep a good old memory. Thank you all very much for working in Fuchu and we Fuchu residents will welcome you again anytime.
Station TDY Fuchu June 68 to Sept. 68 working in Hq in a room controling aircraft parts for broken aircraft in PACAF. Remember downtown Fuchu and being in Bldg when earthquake of 68 that was a 7 or 8 in northern Japan. Actually station in Misawa from March 68 to Sept 69. Really loved Fuchu down town people were very nice to the Americans. I also work for Gen McKey
My Dad was stationed at Fuchu Air Station from 1961 to 1964. Spent my Freshman thru Junior years at Fuchu High School on base. We lived in both units of a duplex on base housing. (My parents had eight kids at the time) Many good memories. In the summer of 1963, I had a job at the weather station and learned how to use punched card machines and early IBM computers. Used to take the train into Tokyo and wander through Akihabara picking up electronics bargains. Technology certainly has changed.
The school was Narimasu High School and the housing area was Grant Heights. Fifty year old memories are a little rusty. But I still remember the little 47 cc motorbike I was able to buy with money from mowing lawns. The 20 mph Base speed limit was not a problem, that was its max speed.
My dad was stationed at Fuchu AS from ’61 to ’64. He was the public information officer for 5th AF and USFJ. We lived in the senior officers quarters on Bong Street, facing the railroad tracks. Both my brother and I went to Yamato HS (I graduated in ’62). During the summers I worked as a lifeguard, first at the O-Club pool, then at the Airman’s pool. Had my own motorcycle and used to ride all over the place with the Fuchu Motorcycle Club, raced at Tama-Tech and at the scramble course at Yokota AB. All in all, a very memorable time for an 18-20 year old dependent.
I was A/2C stationed at Owada from Oct. 1959 to July, 1961, having come up from 18 months on Okinawa. Used to go to Fuchu BX where I first saw color TV, bought clothes, records, Lowenbrau beer, etc. Went out with the little Japanese girl in the record dep’t, whose name I’ve forgotten. Later lived in Kiyose with Yoshie, and immersed myself in Japanese culture, went to night school at Jochi (Sophia) Daigaku, studied Japanese, climbed Fuji-san in December, spending Xmas on the summit sharing Nikka Black whisky with the crew at the weather station, one of whom confessed to me that as a fighter pilot he had shot down a “B-san” (B-29), adding “I’m sorry.” Then he showed me his thumb, missing the first joint, and said he was shot down.
I spent a week with the Japan Alpine Club climbing in the Central Alps, as the only gaijin in over a hundred members, one of whom was 67 yr. old Shinrokuro Hidaka, who had been the ambassador to Italy during the war. I hung out with him a lot because he was such a fascinating person. I was only 22 at the time and very impressionable. I traveled by train south to Nagasaki and north to Sapporo and loved every minute of my stay in Nippon. I will always be grateful to the U.S. Air Force for making this all possible.