Defense & Security

Iwakuni Mayor Seeks Cancellation of U.S. Military Aircraft Drill

Yomiuri Shimbun file photo
The Defense Ministry head office in Shinjuku Ward, Tokyo

Jiji Press

13:58 JST, September 17, 2025

Tokyo, Sept. 16 (Jiji Press)—The mayor of Iwakuni in Yamaguchi Prefecture on Tuesday requested that the Japanese side persuades the U.S. military to cancel an upcoming field carrier landing practice, or FCLP, in the western Japan city.

“Conducting a drill that causes deafening noise will never win the understanding of local residents,” Yoshihiko Fukuda said at a meeting with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani at the Defense Ministry in Tokyo.

The FCLP is a drill in which carrier-based aircraft practice landing on a land runway simulating that of a flattop.

The U.S. military usually conducts the FCLP on Iwoto, a remote Tokyo island better known as Iwo Jima. Following a volcanic eruption on the Pacific island on Sept. 1, the U.S. side notified Tokyo that the drill will be held at the U.S. military’s Iwakuni base between Wednesday and Sept. 26.

In response to the request from Fukuda, Nakatani said, “The drill is important in strengthening U.S. deterrence and response capabilities.”

“Given the situation on Iwoto, conducting the drill (in Iwakuni) is unavoidable,” he said, adding that the Japanese side will again call on the U.S. military to minimize noise pollution from the FCLP.