Airmen from the 36th Airlift Squadron and members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force pose ahead of an orientation flight at Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, May 26, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)

YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan — Nine Japanese airmen recently took a lap around central Japan in a C-130J Super Hercules, courtesy of U.S. airlifters celebrating America’s connections to Asia and the Pacific Islands.

Members of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force were invited along on the annual orientation flight on the final Friday of May, which the U.S. marks as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.

“This year we decided to open an invite to our JASDF partners and friends here on Yokota,” Capt. Sean Crittenden, a Super Hercules pilot with the 36th Airlift Squadron, told Stars and Stripes after the flight. “Coordinating all the approvals and paperwork and prior to the flight was worth the effort.”

U.S. airmen gave the excited Self-Defense Force members a brief tour of the C-130J and posed for a group photo before departing on the four-hour morning flight.

Thanks to favorable weather, the C-130J took a scenic route around Mount Fuji, the Izu Peninsula and Chiba prefecture, Crittenden said.

Air Force Capt. Sean Crittenden briefs Japanese airmen ahead of an orientation flight at Yokota Air Base, Japan, May 26, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)

Japanese airmen check out an Air Force C-130J Super Hercules ahead of their orientation flight out of Yokota Air Base in western Tokyo, May 26, 2023. (Jeremy Stillwagner/Stars and Stripes)

“We are so blessed with this very special experience,” said Warrant Officer Aya Ogura, the senior enlisted adviser for the Air Self-Defense Force’s Operations Support Wing at Yokota.

U.S. and Japanese airmen participate in many events together on the ground, but this was the first opportunity at Yokota for Japanese service members to take part in a flight celebrating cultural diversity, she said.

“I believe opportunities like this help the U.S. forces and Japanese Self-Defense Force better understand each other, and I hope we can continue having these opportunities,” Ogura said.

May was designated Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush. In April, President Joe Biden designated May as Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander Heritage Month to celebrate the culture, achievements and contributions of those groups to American life, but also to call attention to “persistent racism, harassment and hate crimes against these communities,” according to his proclamation.

The flight from Yokota included a “ramp ride,” during which the aircraft flies below 250 knots, or about 290 mph, at low altitude with the cargo ramp open, Crittenden explained. It allowed the air crew and passengers to stand on the open ramp and take photos as they flew over Tokyo Bay and Chiba.

“Seeing everyone put on the harness and helmet, flying low level and just seeing everyone’s happy faces as we passed the ships and roads was really cool,” he said.

Crittenden and Ogura said they hope events like the orientation flight happen more often at Yokota.

“Being an Asian American, it’s really nice to have these opportunities to celebrate cultural diversity,” Crittenden said. “It’s also important for us to continue working on our relationship with the JASDF and our allies and partners in Japan because ultimately, the U.S. doesn’t fight alone, and our friends and allies are a strategic asset.”