View source for Chitose Air Base

{{Redirect|Chitose Airport|the civilian use of this facility|New Chitose Airport}}
{{Infobox airport
| name = Chitose Air Base
| nativename-a = {{nobold|{{lang|ja|千歳基地}}}}
| nativename-r = {{nobold|{{transliteration|ja|Chitose Kichi}}}}
| image =
| IATA =
| ICAO = RJCJ
| type = Military
| owner =
| operator = [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force]]
| location = [[Chitose, Hokkaidō]], [[Japan]]
| elevation-f = 89
| coordinates = {{coord|42|47|40|N|141|39|59|E|region:JP|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map = Japan Hokkaido#Japan
| pushpin_label = RJCJ
| pushpin_map_caption = Location in Japan
| website =
| metric-rwy = yes
| r1-number = 18L/36R
| r1-length-m = 3,000
| r1-surface = [[Concrete]]
| r2-number = 18R/36L
| r2-length-m = 2,700
| r2-surface = [[Asphalt concrete]]
| footnotes = Source: Japanese [[Aeronautical Information Publication|AIP]] at [[Aeronautical Information Service|AIS Japan]]<ref name="AIP">[http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20160517110850/https://aisjapan.mlit.go.jp/ AIS Japan]</ref>
}}
[[Image:Japan government 747.jpg|thumb|[[Boeing 747|Boeing 747-400]] of the [[Japanese Air Force One]] Corps at Chitose Air Base]]
[[Image:Chitose-F15-closeup.png|thumb|A Chitose Air Base F-15J in mid flight]]
{{nihongo|'''Chitose Air Base'''|千歳基地|Chitose Kichi}} {{airport codes||RJCJ}}, is a [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force]] base located in [[Chitose, Hokkaido|Chitose]], [[Hokkaidō]], adjacent to [[New Chitose Airport]]. It is the [[Japan Air Self-Defense Force|JASDF]]'s primary base in northern [[Japan]] and tasked with monitoring Japan's maritime borders with [[Russia]]. It was also Hokkaidō's primary civilian airport until the opening of New Chitose Airport in 1988. Together, these two jointly operated and connected airports create one of the largest regional airports in Japan.

==History==

===US military service===

Chitose's first flight came in 1926, when the ''Otaru Shimbun'' newspaper sponsored the "Hokkai One" (''Hokkai-ichigō'') flight, originating at a 10-hectare air field donated by the villagers of Chitose. In 1939, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] took over the field.

After Japan's surrender in 1945, ending [[World War II]], the [[United States Armed Forces]] took over the base, being primarily under the control of the [[United States Army Air Forces]], and later the [[United States Air Force]] [[Fifth Air Force]]. Major USAF occupation units assigned to Chitose Air Base were:

* [[3d Air Commando Group]] ([[309th Bombardment Wing]]), October 1945-March 1946
* [[49th Fighter Group]] (later Wing), February 1946-April 1948

The base was used largely as a maintenance and logistics facility in the late 1940s prior to the [[Korean War]], under the operational control of the [[314th Air Division]], [[Johnson Air Base]]. Chitose was operated as a sub-base to Johnson AB. As a result of the Korean War, the 6163d Air Base Wing was activated on 1 January 1951. The airfield was used primarily as an emergency landing field for aircraft returning from combat missions over Korea, and as a maintenance and repair depot by Technical Service Command.

During the Allied occupation, in 1951, Chitose received its first scheduled civilian flights to [[Tokyo]], operated by [[Japan Airlines]].

After the 1953 Korean Armistice, the USAF moved its [[F-86 Sabre]]-equipped [[4th Fighter Group]] (later Wing) from [[Gimpo International Airport|Kimpo AB (K-14)]], South Korea in September 1954. The only American combat unit assigned to Chitose, the squadron provided air defense of Hokkaidō for several years, being inactivated in place on 1 July 1957 due to budget restrictions.

With the inactivation of the [[4th Fighter Wing]], Chitose was phased down for return to Japanese control. The 6029th Support Group was activated and continued support for the units assigned to the base. It was inactivated along with the other United States military units at the base on 31 December 1957, returning the facility over to Japanese control. The US maintained a communications facility at the base until December 1970, and formally ended operations at Chitose on June 30, 1975.

===Civilian service===

The passenger terminal at '''Chitose Airport''' opened in 1963. Chitose quickly overtook [[Okadama Airport]], which was too small to serve jet aircraft, as the main airport serving the [[Sapporo]] metropolitan area.

Immigration facilities were constructed in 1969, prior to the opening of the [[1972 Winter Olympics]] in Sapporo. The only scheduled international service at Chitose was a [[Japan Air System]] flight to [[Honolulu International Airport|Honolulu]] with a stop at [[Narita International Airport|Tokyo Narita]], which operated from 1981 to 1987.

All civilian passenger service was transferred to [[New Chitose Airport]] in 1988.

==JSDF units based at Chitose==
[[File:JASDF F-15 at Chitose Air Base.jpg|thumb|[[Mitsubishi F-15J|F-15J]] landing at Chitose (2010)]]
[[File:Kawasaki T-4 night operations at Chitose Air Base.jpg|thumb|[[Kawasaki T-4]] at Chitose (2013)]]

===Northern Air Defense Force===
* [[2nd Air Wing (JASDF)|2nd Air Wing]]
: [[201st Tactical Fighter Squadron (JASDF)|201st Tactical Fighter Squadron]] ([[Mitsubishi F-15J|F-15J]], [[Kawasaki T-4]])
: [[203rd Tactical Fighter Squadron (JASDF)|203rd Tactical Fighter Squadron]] ([[Mitsubishi F-15J|F-15J]], [[Kawasaki T-4]])
* 3rd Air Defence Missile Group ([[Patriot missile]]s)
: 9th Fire Unit
: 10th Fire Unit
* 8th Mobile Aircraft Control and Warning Squadron

===Air Support Command===
* Special Air Transport Corps ([[Japanese Air Force One|Boeing 777-300ERs used by the Japanese government]])
* Chitose Air Rescue Wing ([[Mitsubishi H-60|Mitsubishi UH-60J]], [[British Aerospace 125|BA Series 800 U-125A]])

==Accidents and incidents==
* August 19, 1982: A [[Japan Airlines]] [[Boeing 747SR|Boeing 747-146SR]] suffered a runway strike of the No. 4 engine while landing in Chitose. The aircraft, JA8119 would [[Japan Air Lines Flight 123|go on to crash]] three years later in what would become the worst crash of a single aircraft in aviation history.

==In media==
Chitose Air Base was used as the main setting of the 1990 film ''[[Best Guy]]'' and the 1994 [[anime]] [[Original video animation|OVA]] series ''[[801 T.T.S. Airbats]]''.

==References==

{{AFHRA}}
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Chitose Air Base}}
* [https://www.mod.go.jp/asdf/chitose/ Chitose Air Base Official Website]

{{Japanese airports}}

{{authority control}}

[[Category:Airports in Hokkaido]]
[[Category:Installations of the United States Air Force in Japan]]
[[Category:Japan Air Self-Defense Force bases]]
[[Category:Airfields of the United States Army Air Forces in Occupied Japan]]
[[Category:1926 establishments in Japan]]
[[Category:Airports established in 1926]]
[[Category:Military airbases established in 1939]]
[[Category:Chitose, Hokkaido]]