Iruma Air Base Air Festival

Held every year on Culture Day, 3 November, at Iruma Air Base on the north-western edge of the Tokyo conurbation, this is the most heavily attended air festival in Japan, regularly drawing crowds in the low hundreds of thousands because of its proximity to the capital. The base flies transport and electronic warfare aircraft, and the programme closes with a Blue Impulse display. Its accessibility from central Tokyo makes it the single most practical Japanese air festival for a foreign visitor.

Iruma Air Base, 2-3 Inariyama 2-chome, Sayama, Saitama 350-1324

Entry to the festival on Tuesday 3 November 2026 is free, with the base open from 08:00 until 15:00 according to the base's own 2026 page. Visitor parking is not provided, so arrive on foot by train: the nearest stations are Inariyama-koen on the Seibu Ikebukuro Line and Sayama-shi on the Seibu Shinjuku Line, and in previous years the base's guidance put the walk from Sayama-shi at about 10 minutes to the Sayama City Hall gate. Entrances, one-way walking routes and prohibited items are announced by the base closer to the date and have changed between editions, so check the base's 2026 notices before travelling.