Japan’s Blue Impulse Aerobatic Display Flight Team Flies over Quake-hit Noto Areas; Show Heartens Affected Residents

The Yomiuri Shimbun

14:20 JST, March 19, 2024

WAJIMA. Ishikawa — The Blue Impulse, an aerobatic display team of the Air Self-Defense Force, flew over earthquake-hit areas in the Noto Peninsula to cheer up affected residents on Monday.

The residents took photos of and waved toward the planes, which left smoke trails in their wake.

The Blue Impulse planes flew over six municipalities in the Noto Peninsula that were especially devastated by the disaster.

In Wajima Junior High School in Wajima, Ishikawa Prefecture, evacuees and volunteers gathered on the school field where cracks from the quake still remain and shouted for joy when seeing the planes.

“I felt like stepping forward little by little,” said a 60-year-old self-employed woman in the city. “I was uplifted [by the planes].”