Ambassador Rahm Emanuel Visits MHI Plant in Aichi Pref.; Underscores Japan-U.S. Defense Cooperation

The Yomiuri Shimbun

15:45 JST, April 17, 2024

NAGOYA — U.S. Ambassador to Japan Rahm Emanuel on Tuesday visited a Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. plant in Aichi Prefecture to inspect maintenance work being performed on stealthy F-35 fighter aircraft in a show of deepening cooperation between the Japanese and U.S. defense industries.

The Air Self-Defense Force plans to deploy more F-35 fighter jets, which were developed through a U.S-led international initiative.

The plant in the town of Toyoyama has been performing maintenance work on the cutting-edge aircraft since July 2020.

After the inspection, Emanuel said he found that the plant has been making efforts to cut costs and move up production schedules. The ambassador added that he believes Japan is helping the United States improve in its production of F-35s, as his country is learning from Japan’s work.