Fresh off a Husker victory (1:00 am game time, so no, we did not catch the entire thing...), today's adventure kept us close to home at the 60th Annual Misawa Air Festival.
The yearly event showcases the aircraft of the Japanese Self Defense Force (JASDF) and United States Air Force. The event takes place on our base, which is a joint base shared by Japanese and US Forces. It's a huge festival that draws an average of 100,000 Japanese and American spectators each year. The weather was great today which contributed to this year's crowd being especially big, estimates were around 120,000-130,000 people! It is not unusual for rain to spoil the scheduled flight demonstrations. I specifically remember not going last year due to the fog and downpours I observed from the dry comfort of our house.
It's hard to describe the noise we hear on an almost daily basis to anyone that hasn't lived on a base serving as home to fighter jets. The pauses in phone calls when I have to say "Hold on a sec, I can't hear you while this jet goes by," don't make sense until you've experienced a jet fly by when you don't expect it. They're loud, but as the saying goes, that's the sound of FREEDOM. So while it may sound like I'm complaining, I'm not, and some days I hardly notice anymore.
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| Wouldn't be a Japanese festival without relaxing on blankets with food and beer. |
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| Flying upside down. |
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| My friend Ninoosh and I. |
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| Long lines of people waiting for the shuttle buses to take them back to their cars at off base parking areas. |
Wrapped up the day with a short walk down to the base beach to watch a pretty sunset.
Up next: My Parents' Visit - Part 11 - Final Days
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