Free Republic

TOKYO — Two homemade mortar launchers found within possible striking distance of Naval Air Facility Atsugi on Wednesday are being investigated as a planned guerrilla attack, Japanese police said. The time-triggered devices contained projectiles and were found at 10:20 a.m. in a wooded area about 500 yards north of the main base gate in Ayase City by a Japanese neighbor, a Kanagawa Prefectural Police spokesman said Wednesday. No projectiles had been launched from the devices, the spokesman said. Further details on the launchers and whether the projectiles were explosive were unavailable Wednesday, according to the spokesman. Police suspect an attack...

Naval Air Facility Atsugi Japan held its annual Friendship Day on September 23rd. The Traditional Air Show was canceled due to complaints from local residents – all of whom had moved close to the formerly rural base long after it was established in the 1930s at the urging of Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, chief architect and chief opponent of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The gates were opened to the Japanese public, but proper security procedures were observed. Various base organizations operated booths preparing American cuisine, all of which trailed long lines until late in the evening. Live music began...

Friday, April 4, 2003 at 00:09 JST YOKOHAMA — Multiple explosions were heard outside the U.S. Atsugi naval air station Thursday night in what the Japanese police suspect was a guerrilla attack by Japanese militants opposed to the Iraq war. The explosions, which were reported at around 10:40 p.m., occurred in the neighborhood of the main gate of the base in Ayase, Kanagawa Prefecture, police officials said. There were no reports of casualties or damage to properties. One store owner outside the main gate of the base said he heard two quick explosions and described the blast as "something like...