Sagamino

 

Sagamino Station is a train station located on the Sagami Railway Line in Ebina, Kanagawa, in the south of Tokyo. It is served by Sagami Railway's Sotetsu Main Line. The station mainly serves the servicemen stationed at the nearby Naval Air Facility Atsugi.

 

Naval Air Facility Atsugi

 

Naval Air Facility Atsugi is a naval air base located in the Kanagawa Prefecture in the south of Tokyo. Although it is named after the city of Atsugi, it is situated nine miles from it in the cities of Yamato and Ayase. It is the largest naval air facility in the Pacific and is home to Carrier Air Wing Five, the Navy's only permanently forward-deployed air wing. Besides providing logistics support to Carrier Air Wing Five, this Naval Air Facility also houses both the American and Japan Maritime Self Defense Force (JMSDF) units and provides facilities, services, and material support for US Navy and Marine Corps aviation operations.

 

Built by the Imperial Japanese Navy in 1938, this base was the main Japanese naval base during World War II. After the war and Japanese surrender, the base was taken over by the American forces and made an army storage area and home to the many American soldiers who could not be accommodated at the nearby Camp Zama. During the Korean War in 1950, the base was refurbished and made the navy's main Naval Air Station. In October 1950, the Seabees (US Navy construction battalions) arrived and further renovated it, and in December 1950, it was formally opened as Naval Air Facility Atsugi. In 1972, the American and Japanese government agreed to share the base. After the closure of the Naval Air Stations in Philippines in 1991 and Guam in 1995, Naval Air Facility Atsugi became the primary base for support of naval aviation in the Western Pacific.

 

Carrier Air Wing Five, the main occupant of the naval air facility, consists of 70 aircrafts and 2,000 military personnel. The 1,249-acre base is further compacted by the military units of the Japanese navy. On-base housing is also available to the servicemen, which makes the place a unique blend of different cultures. Around the base are several shops, restaurants serving both Japanese and American cuisine, a money exchange, post office, home improvement store, gas station, video store, movie theater, bowling alley, home softball field, football field, track, three gyms, and a swimming pool. Accompanied tours are available for visitors.